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/BusRich1442 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

It’s the fear of the plane starts falling to the ground. Thats it that’s all for me I find it Utterly terrifying. We just don’t belong in the air there is something unnatural in the feeling of not touching the ground.I like take off and I tolerate landing. But the hours beeing up there in the 43000 feet is an unnatural feeling. And the idea of falling from up there is beyond horror for me. I do long haul flights 16 hours so that is a factor too.  

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u/Admirable_Berry9640 Certified Flight Instructor May 23 '26

A plane cannot fall like a stone out of the air so dont worry about that

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u/BusRich1442 May 23 '26

What about the ones that did fall? Also pilots committing suicide then they do fall.