A fearful flyer sent us this comment about his fear of flying through turbulence:  "I wish that pilots would communicate more with the passengers. For example, that they would explain the turbulence and how long it will likely last. Also I often find that when they say turbulence is coming and to fasten one's seatbelt, that turbulence turns out not to be as bad as the turbulence they don't notify you of."

What could be big enough to motivate you to overcome your fear of flying?  How about love?  That worked in the case of Darren McWalters who overcame his fear of heights yesterday to fly 1000 feet over England standing on the wings of a biplane.  Clearly this is not something someone with a fear of heights would think of doing--but STANDING on the wings of an airplane?? 

When I saw the headline, "Hole in Fuselage Forces Qantas Jet to Land," I immediately thought of how a fearful flyer might be reacting to this news.    Later I saw video on the Today show:  passengers putting their oxygen masks on;  the reporter saying, "The passengers heard a noise and then the plane dropped 20,000 feet." 

Then the picture of the parked Qantas plane with its gaping hole flashed on the screen as the reporter concluded, "The plane landed safely."   Passengers onboard clapped in relief.

Our new poll "What's the Scariest Part of Flying" has been up on FearlessFlight.com for about a month.  Almost 900 people have voted.  Many more people have looked at the choices of the poll and have apparently been too afraid to even enter their opinion.   Takeoffs...ARGH.  Landings...Oh MY!  Turbulence...HOLY cow! 

I just read a California newspaper article about a certain actor who says he doesn't have a fear of flying--he just doesn't like "to be up in the air much."  Being in the fear of flying business, I immediately read between the lines and said, "Okay, he's afraid to fly."

What's the scariest part of flying for you? Courtney discovered that it was the hours leading up to her flight, not the flight itself that ruined her day. 

So how do you deal with what's going on inside you the day before your flight?  Even though Courtney left me a voice mail, it was easy to hear her anxiety and fear in her shaky voice.  She had called in the morning for a little reassurance for her flight later that evening. When I called back, she told me she was doing better but clearly she was really anxious about flying for the first time in two years. 

Our monthly Cleared for Takeoff class met yesterday at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.  For three hours, fearful flyers shared, learned, and asked Capt. Ron about fear of flying, takeoffs, turbulence, and landings.  Capt. Ron earned six new fans as he patiently answered questions and made them laugh with his jokes: "Turbulence bothers me because I have to put down my copy of USA Today!"  One woman told Capt. Ron he should be on Oprah because he's so "caring and compassionate." 

If you read my previous blog post about fearful flyer Joanna--oops, let's make that former fearful flyer Joanna--you know that she's had some successes and failures in her quest to overcome her fear of flying.  It hasn't been a snap-your-fingers, get-over-it-now road to fearless flying.  That's fear of flying, for you.  It CAN be overcome, but it takes a lot of hard work and motivation and courage. 

The first time I flew with Capt. Ron and a group of fearful flyers, I heard him say, “It’s okay if today isn’t a good day to fly.”  A strange statement coming from a man who’s helping people to get on a plane rather than remain grounded in their fear, I thought.