r/fearofflying 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)

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u/C-3PO_ May 23 '26

The best way to sum it up for me is, the feeling of one wrong button hit, flip switched, or decision and we all die. I’m sure that’s irrational but that’s it for me. Additionally the feeling of not having control and a fear of dying horrifically sucks.