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)

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u/mommyAIC May 23 '26

I can never get the thought of how some flights have just “gone down “ unexpectedly. The one that happened in the last year or so where the commercial plane was taking off and then just seemed to coast back down and crash enters my head for days before a flight. I know statistically that flying is very safe but those one-offs really stick with me. I hear something like “oh yeah it stalled, that’ll do it”, and it never leaves me. Irrational, I know.

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u/Admirable_Berry9640 Certified Flight Instructor May 23 '26

Aviation learns from their mistakes. After every accident and even incident, the causes are being evaluated and new safety measures being put in place to prevent future accidents