(No) Fear of Flying…
So, I tell myself, “What am I worried about anyway?” As I prepare to board this plane to California, what are the chances of it NOT making and making an unexpected stop somewhere between here and there? What are the odds? 1,000,000 to 1? 1,000 to 1? 100 to 1? 50/50? Nothing’s going to happen! We’ll take off and land right on schedule, right? I’m concerned for no reason, I keep telling myself. Why worry? Flying is supposed to be safer than driving, isn’t it. Besides, those airline mechanics are highly qualified to maintain the airplanes. But then, mistakes DO happen. What if one of them, who just happen to work on one of the planes I’ll be on, just happens to come to work drunk, hung over or on drugs? What if he’s a disgruntled employee who wants to get even with his boss and takes it out on the plane by leaving a bolt or two loose or something like that? I won’t ever know until it’s too late! What if the pilot is drunk? What if we get caught in a lightning storm halfway there? I’m being paranoid! I’m stressing over nothing. Why worry? Once we get in the air, that’s it! No turning back! It’s out of my hands. So I’m just going to quit worrying about it and get on that plane. But wait…….I don’t HAVE to get on the plane. That’s right! If I just change my mind (and I can do that) then I won’t have to worry at all about not making it and planes going down. I can drive to California instead.
I think that’s what I’ll do. No problem there. It’ll take a little longer to get there but I won’t have to worry about anything…..EXCEPT……..drunk drivers on the road……..bad weather causing part of my route to be temporarily shut down…….my car breaking down in the middle of nowhere.
Guess I’ll take my chances with the plane
February 8th, 2008 at 7:03 am
Huh! I have those thoughts all of the time, and I only fly between the islands of Hawaii and Oahu… a 35 minute trip. But anything that is possible, can go wrong.
* Cargo door may not be secured correctly. Could blow out in mid flight. (United 747 HI to Australia)
* Engine could flame out while in flight. (recent on HAL Hilo to HNL)
* Aircraft could land on wrong runway.
* A spark could ignite an explosion (TWA 800)
* An engine could fall off while plane is taking off (AMA DC-10, 1978)
Still with all the thousands of flights occuring hourly anywhere over the U.S. and around the world, the odds are slim that something bad will happen.
Of course for me there is the issue of using only 2 engined jets for long haul flights. Once upon a time most long hauls were 4 engine jets (747, DC-8, 707) or at least 3 (DC-10, L-1011, MD11)… now 2 is common… the redundancy of having a 3rd or 4th engine is lost on me.