Flying Anxiety~Overcome Your Fear Of Flying Today!
IF your still anxious with anxiety about flying, I do have some extra safety tips before your next flight.
*When traveling overseas most U.S. and European air carriers have excellent safety standards. Likewise, Canada, and Mexico also have a good safety history. Air carriers that concern me are airlines from South America, Africa & some Asian air carriers that have poor safety standards compared to the U.S. Some exceptions are carriers like Japan Air, All Nippon, Australia, Singapore airlines also have good safety records. But certain carriers in Africa, & South America have a bad reputation in the aviation community & it would be wise to check their safety record before booking a flight on air carriers from those regions.
*Avoid flying the maiden voyage of any brand new aircraft type for at least a year. The reason is that most new aircraft types usually have some bugs in the systems that needs to be worked out. It usually takes engineers about a year to fix any problems in design. Most problems are minor, but some cases have led to accidents. For example, I remember when the Airbus A-320 came out in the late 80's-to mid 90's it was revolutionary aircraft for its era. It was highly automated, & computerize and a new concept for most pilots. The computers had ultimate control of the airplane. For the first time ever, pilots were like passengers not in control. Pilots manage the systems & automation to make sure it was doing what it was asked to do. But there were still a series of incidents & accidents when this airplane came out. The main reason was there was a steep new learning curve for pilot flying this airplane. Your previous experience flying other airplanes didn't matter. Pilots had to unlearned previous concepts & open their mind to new ones. Airbus & the airlines also worked out the bugs in the training for this new aircraft. As a result since then the problems have been worked out & the aircraft is an incredible safe workhorse for the airlines today.
*Despite popular believe sitting in the back of an airplane is no more safer than any other seat. However, sitting in an emergency exit has some unique advantages. First, you usually have more leg room then most of the coach area seating. Plus, if the aircraft has to abort on takeoff because of a fire then you will be the first one out. A fire in the cabin remains the most dangerous situation for passengers. Thats part of the reason the government banned smoking on airplanes. FAA studies show you have 90 seconds to evacuate an aircraft from fire before sub coming to smoke inhalation.There was a well documented case of an Air France Airbus 340 aircraft with over 250 passengers who evacuated safely from a fire after their aircraft broke a part & caught fire after a bad landing in inclement weather in Toronto, Canada in 2006.
*Don't smoke in the lavatory. Not only is it against the law, but it endangers everyone. A fire is the worst emergency you could have in an airplane. If you see someone smoking in an airplane tell the Flight Attendant.
*Another important tip I recommend is to pay attention to the Flight Attendants safety briefing, and know how many seats you are from an emergency exit. The Flight Attendants are not there just to serve you a meal or drinks. They are mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration FAA because they are safety officers. Their real job is to assist you in an evacuation. It doesn't matter how many times you flown because a person could panic or get memory lapse under stress. You are less like to forget if you made an effort to listen to the briefing. I recommend complying with what ever tell you.
Every FAA regulation was written in blood. If they tell you to bring your tray table up, & seat back upright, its because someone in the past got injured or worst for not following it.
*Don't fly in severe inclement weather such as noreasters, hurricanes, or even a heavy line of thunderstorms. Airlines don't general cancel flights because of weather. They cancel them because of the affect it cause on the over all schedule operation. Although aircraft could fly in all weather, weather is usually a contributing factor in at least some accidents. Bad weather increases the chance of a long duty day for flight crews and therefore increases the chances of fatigue. Fatigue has been a factor in most accidents.
*I want to emphasize how important it is to trust the aviation industry. When I refer to the industry, I am not just talking about the airlines, but the entire aviation industry, including checks & balances that come with it. If you think about it most people fully trust other industries, such as police, medical, & legal so aviation is no different. |