Fear of flying

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Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Not flying itself, but flying on commercial jets. I haven't flown in 10 years. My uncle is an instructor for small planes (Cessnas) and I feel safer in those, mainly because I've been with him when we glided into a field doing an engine stall test. It feels more like a car with wings. I fear the crazy people with motives, the lackluster maintenance from corporations looking to skimp to save a buck, and other things. Is it reasonable? Absolutely not, and I know this. Statistically flying is much safer than driving, but with me it is a control freak thing. 3 years ago my company sent me to a week of training in Baltimore, MD and I drove.

That makes zero sense and is not based on any facts whatsoever. "Statistically speaking" the accident rate for general aviation is about triple that for commercial aviation.

There are many commercial aviation mechanics that will never fly on anyone's GA aircraft.
 
Originally Posted by kschachn
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Not flying itself, but flying on commercial jets. I haven't flown in 10 years. My uncle is an instructor for small planes (Cessnas) and I feel safer in those, mainly because I've been with him when we glided into a field doing an engine stall test. It feels more like a car with wings. I fear the crazy people with motives, the lackluster maintenance from corporations looking to skimp to save a buck, and other things. Is it reasonable? Absolutely not, and I know this. Statistically flying is much safer than driving, but with me it is a control freak thing. 3 years ago my company sent me to a week of training in Baltimore, MD and I drove.

That makes zero sense and is not based on any facts whatsoever. "Statistically speaking" the accident rate for general aviation is about triple that for commercial aviation.

There are many commercial aviation mechanics that will never fly on anyone's GA aircraft.


Yeah, those Cessnas crash all the time. It's just so common it just makes the local news and not national. It's easier to survive a crash in a Cessna than a commercial airline though. But then again, if there haven't been any fatal commercial airline crashes in the last decade or so in the US, then commercial is still safer. As for maintenance, they still have to follow regulations which require inspections and repairs at fixed intervals so it's not like a car where you can just skip an oil change if you want. I did fly at an Aero club before where they did the inspections twice as often as required by regulations. I wonder if any of the big commercial airlines do that.
 
A lot of sarcasm in that post but little acknowledgement or understanding of the between GA and commercial, especially when it comes to maintenance.
 
Originally Posted by E150GT
flying is fine. Its all the bull that goes with flying I hate. The airport waiting, TSA lines etc.


Exactly. I avoid the airlines for this very reason. There are way too many restrictions these days to fly commercial...
 
Not to change the subject....

I recently flew on an Embraer 175 and it was such a nice flight, quiet inside the cabin and really comfortable first class seats. I book my flights very early in the mornings to avoid the Wal-Mart atmosphere at noon time in a busy airport.

From now on I'll try and fly on the 175 as much as I can.


People afraid of flying just have to close their eyes and listen to music on the headphones.
 
No fear here.. just did 8 flights on our last trip overseas. That was a mixture of planes down to turbo props. Now airports are a pain in the hindquarters, dragging luggage going through checkpoints.. hate all of that. Really shines the light on our RV and how easy it is to travel. Not the fastest but domestically that will be our method of travel.
 
Originally Posted by Eric Smith
No fear here.. just did 8 flights on our last trip overseas. That was a mixture of planes down to turbo props. Now airports are a pain in the hindquarters, dragging luggage going through checkpoints.. hate all of that. Really shines the light on our RV and how easy it is to travel. Not the fastest but domestically that will be our method of travel.


Same … stuff on the ground, making flight connections etc … is what I dread the most …
 
Martin E.P.Seligman, Ph.D says in "What You Can Change and What You Can't" that those type of phobias are on the easy to cure equation. Very well written and informative book about the human condition.
 
Originally Posted by Astro14


1) Charter operations (often part 91) are not subject to the regulation that commercial (part 135) carriers are. Charter pilots don't have to meet the training standards, rest requirements, experience, or even age requirements of the airlines, depending how the companies are set up.



2) but no, charter operations are not as safe as the commercial airlines.



A small correction on item 1.

FAR part 91 is private, non commercial aviation. My personal Cessna falls under part 91. With smaller aircraft, there are very few rules and little oversight. (charter not allowed)

FAR part 135 "air carrier" is for non scheduled commercial aviation. Example: A chartered jet falls under part 135.

FAR part 121 "air carrier" is for scheduled commercial aviation. (think airlines)

It's good to know that FAR part 135 is tightly regulated and has significant oversight. But Astro is 100% correct, it's not as safe as the scheduled airlines, not even close. My personal opinion is that pilots that can't or won't "fly for the airlines" fly charter jets. There is a very wide variety of aircraft to "charter" and the number of accumulated hours per model does not "work the bugs out" like you'd see with airliners.

Short of taking a large commercial ship for long distance travel, the big name, part 121 airlines are absolutely, positively, the safest method of travel. The pilots are well trained, experienced, and the equipment has the bugs worked out. Period, end of story.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet
It's good to know that FAR part 135 is tightly regulated and has significant oversight. But Astro is 100% correct, it's not as safe as the scheduled airlines, not even close. My personal opinion is that pilots that can't or won't "fly for the airlines" fly charter jets. There is a very wide variety of aircraft to "charter" and the number of accumulated hours per model does not "work the bugs out" like you'd see with airliners.

Short of taking a large commercial ship for long distance travel, the big name, part 121 airlines are absolutely, positively, the safest method of travel. The pilots are well trained, experienced, and the equipment has the bugs worked out. Period, end of story.


Well I always thought the biggest difference between charter and commercial is just the minimum number of hours required. It's a lot more for commercial vs charter. But I suppose charter could be for semi-retired pilots too.
 
There are a lot of guys flying Part 135 who couldn't possibly get an airline gig, not even with one of the low wage commuter subs of those airlines that use them.
OTOH, FWIR, there are real advantages to a pilot who ends up in the Part 135 world through either choice or the lack thereof.
Incidentally, a commercial ticket is nothing and easily earned by any PPL.
I think you mean an ATP, which is a whole 'nother world of requirements and is required to fly either seat of an airliner in this country.
 
Originally Posted by E150GT
flying is fine. Its all the bull that goes with flying I hate. The airport waiting, TSA lines etc.

That. I will hitch-hike before subjecting myself to commercial air travl.
 
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
Originally Posted by E150GT
flying is fine. Its all the bull that goes with flying I hate. The airport waiting, TSA lines etc.

That. I will hitch-hike before subjecting myself to commercial air travl.




And your danger level just went up by many multiples.
 
Originally Posted by JasonC
I've never flown and never will. Not afraid of it, just no desire to.

What if your wife has family in California and both of you are invited to a wedding ?
 
Originally Posted by JasonC
I've never flown and never will.


And yet there is this:

The view from 51,000 feet. It makes it all worthwhile!


[Linked Image]




[Linked Image]
 
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