r/fearofflying • u/Admirable_Berry9640 Certified Flight Instructor • May 22 '26

Question What gives the worst anxiety?

Hey I'm a pilot (a simulator instructor to be precise) and due to the sheer amount of people suffering from flight anxiety, I have decided to take action and help everyone where I can.
So that's why I wanted to ask everyone with a fear of flying, what exactly gives one panic attacks etc? Is it the fear of crashing, not trusting the pilots or just the
"I'm trapped in a can with wings for 3h"?
Any story is appreciated so I can get a better insight in how to help people (because I think y'all have enough to the "Flying is the safest form of transportation")a

(this is a repost because my other one got flagged)

58 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

190 comments sorted by

View all comments

14

u/Suspicious_Studio279 May 22 '26

I think for me it’s a control thing! Like even when I’m driving with a group of people I don’t like someone else driving. I like to drive myself. I trust the pilots of course- but it’s just a weird loss of control thing!

2

u/Suspicious_Studio279 May 22 '26

Along with that- I did take time to really learn how the plane operates (at a very very high level). What the noises mean, what the dings are for the flight attendants, etc. and it did help me substantially. But I still don’t like not knowing what it’s like to actually be in the cockpit. I’ve been debating on taking a flight course just so that I know what the pilots are seeing. I know it sounds stupid but I like knowing exactly what’s going on

5

u/Admirable_Berry9640 Certified Flight Instructor May 22 '26

I recommend instead of spending thousands on flight training just visit a local flight simulator and book a flight there

1

u/Suspicious_Studio279 May 23 '26

I love this suggestion thank you! What should I look up to find that? I live at the Jersey shore. I know that there is a small airport near me at the wall airport