"bent" a Boeing 767 or at least made creases appear in the crown of the aircraft.
The problem lies with the key word
appear thus the general public is left to itself drawing its own (usually misleading) conclusions without knowing hard facts. Self-educated "experts" (public or press) seem to run show nowadays and we are all too familiar with the following headlines:
The pilot
appeared to be drunk. The flight
appeared to be unsafe b/c of turbulence.
(This reminds me of a Cathay or Thai flight where a winglet was deferred and the majority of pax refused to board the flight b/c it
appeared to be unsafe.)
I have to admit that it is difficult to comfort those that have a phobia towards flying, but please trust the professionals. At the end of the day (or flight) the most dangerous part of the flight is getting to or from the airport.