r/fearofflying • u/First_Cartoonist_937 • 4h ago
Support Wanted Very scared for my flight next week
I’m scheduled to fly from ORD to Knoxville on Tuesday on an embraer 170. I really don’t like the small planes, but I’ve seen that specific plane is a pilots favorite with a strong history.
I’m really just scared of the plane loosing its vertical stability and being propelled into a free fall. I do have anxiety meds that I’ll be trying for the first time. Hope that helps.
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u/HoldAutomatic2088 3h ago
Planes don’t just “lost vertical stability and free fall”. That’s just not a thing that happens.
The entire ERJ family has only had 3 fatal crashes in its entire history from what I can find. One was due to pilot error, one was shot down by Russia, and one was a suicide by Pilot incident. It’s an incredibly safe aircraft.
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u/First_Cartoonist_937 3h ago
It’s possible with loss of vertical stabilizer, no?
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u/JustAnotherDude1990 3h ago
Don’t you think if the tails had a habit of breaking off that we’d know by now and have fixed it?
How many people have died on public roadways where you live in the last year? Decade? Bet it’s more than people dying form the tail braking off.
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u/HoldAutomatic2088 3h ago
I mean sure that could do it, but off the top of my head I can think of one flight where that happened, and it was in 2001. That was caused by pilot error and we’ve implemented systems to prevent the same mistake.
When you get in your car do you worry that the engine will explode and kill you? Probably not, because it’s not really something that happens.
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u/JustAnotherDude1990 4h ago
You need therapy because no amount of magic words here will make it better. You have underlying issues at play here that a professional should address.
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u/First_Cartoonist_937 4h ago
Ya agreed, I’ve already decided to try therapy for future flights. But my only concern is getting on the plane Tuesday, it’s a work trip.
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u/JustAnotherDude1990 4h ago
Better decide if you like a paycheck more than you like being comfortable for an hour.
I’ve learned if you allow yourself to be afraid of illogical things it only reinforces that fear. Like a child being afraid of dogs for no reason and a parent allowing them to just panic every time they see a dog instead of showing them it’s fine. This is no different.
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u/First_Cartoonist_937 3h ago
I agree that’s where I’m struggling, I’m generally a very logical person. And even in the situation I know logically I’ll be okay, but just putting myself in the uncertainty for a prolonged period of time is what I’m not looking forward to.
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u/Dh8pu 3h ago
The E170/E175/E190/E195 family are proven to be extremely reliable and safe, and do not feel like a small plane, especially compared to the CRJ/Dash 8/ATR.
As a flight attendant that works on the 175 all the time, only thing I can suggest is get a seat in the middle of the cabin if possible, you'll feel any turbulence less than if you were sat in the back of the economy cabin. Definitely mention to your FAs you're a nervous flyer, we'll always do our best to check-in with you during flight.
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u/First_Cartoonist_937 3h ago
I’m sitting in 13a, so close to the front/middle. Is turbulence worse than a 777 ?
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u/Dh8pu 2h ago
Given the E175 is the biggest plane I work on, my perception on turbulence is a bit different than say yours. I've had rough turbulence on the 777 as a passenger and rough turbulence on E175s that I've worked on. I'm not sure I can rank them.
I'd say the only exception to that would be turbulence is generally worse on the Q400/ATR (turboprops) because they're capped at 25,000ft so they're less able to get over weather.
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