Scared of Flying

[Tolsti]

My assistant is scared of flying following a turbulence incident in hich she was thorughly shaken and can now only flywhen, in her own words, 'I'm as drunk as a skunk'.

As her direct manager I have set myself the task of persuading her that it is safe to fly again and that she can actually enjoy it.

I am looking for 2 things and I wonder if anyone can help....

a) I read a few years ago a small book that explained each stage of the flight including what noises meant what. i.e. flaps exetending or retracting

b) there was an article by, I believe a current El-Al captain, covering the subject.

If anyone can help in pointing me in the direction of this or any similar material I would be most grateful.

[flapsforty]

Tolsti, you might want to put this up in the "questions" forum as well, give yourself a bit more exposure as it were.
Good luck, it's a pretty tenacious condition in many people.

[christep]

Tolsti,

If you wander over to http://www.airdisaster.com you will find a "Fear of Flying" forum there which contains all sorts of useful advice and links (as well as a lot of people scared of flying).

[Tolsti]

Thanks Flaps..... as usual your advice proved of value.

Cheers Christep...... off over there now.

[THE PIPELINE]

Tolsti, try and find a book called "Flying Tonight-a beginners guide to aviation" published by Ian Allan a few years back. Im not sure if its in print, i havnt seen it for a few years, but you can probably pick it up in various places

basically it covers most things that the passenger will cover in the course of his/her flight, explains them in a lighthearted and humourous way, with relevant diagrams or pictures. I suggest purchasing/borrowing a copy, loaning it to your friend.

Alternatively, i recall on "Airline" or some such programme, they followed a group of pax who were on a specially chartered plane as part of a course for people who had a fear of flying, basically, they had a briefing by pilots of what to expect, they went up for a quick jaunt in a 737 or such then came back. most overcame their fears to some extent.

best of luck anyhow

TP

[Tolsti]

thanks Pipeline....... I had eventually remembered the title and tried Amazon earlier this week......... not available at this time. I will now try the publisher direct. Great book, left my copy in a hotel in Siberia.

[Shadowpurser]

If you can get her to the A/C without being too plastered ask if she can see the flight deck and talk to the pilots before take off. I would recommend she sits there for take off and landing - that always used to sort quite a few people out - but I'm afraid that is a thing of the past.

I always use the example of likening the A/C to your car.

Sounds stupid but....Imagine Imagine every time you get in your car to go on a journey it has been given a full MOT/Service and everything has been checked thouroughly. Your car has two of everything - steering wheel, driver, etc etc. Not only does it have all this great stuff BUT ALSO....when you start your journey someone has already sorted out your route and is watching you every step of the way and all the other cars on the road as well so no accidents occur!!!!

Again may sound stupid, but it puts it into simple terms for a lot of people and after a few moments thinking about it they are a lot calmer.

Hope this helps - and good luck.;

[Tolsti]

Good analogy Shadow... I now have quite a lot of useful angles and explanations to put to her. She is a very bright young lady and I'm sure will have no problem relating the explanations to events/sounds. Just got to find the time to get it all set out into a few sessions and make a start. After 'ground school' I plan a visit or two to CDG for viewing take off + landings. I feel also that the large airport scene is unnerving her so will probably fly from Beauvais for the final part.

Thanks to all for the help.

[SLF]

Tolsti

Favourite site of mine for out-of-print books, try this

http://www.bookfinder.com/

Cheers - SLF

[Celtic Emerald]

SP

The days of easy access to the cockpit are well gone :confused

Emerald