Aviophobia or Aviatophobia, both are commonly used to reference a fear of flying.
Do you have a fear of flying? Do you know someone who does?
I fly almost weekly and have been doing it for more years than I care to count. I never thought of myself as having this fear. In fact I seem to be more at ease on a plane than I do on the ground at times. I suppose that’s because there isn’t any telephones, televisions, fax machines, carrier pigeons and such, although there was a bat on a Delta flight recently. When I am on the plane, there isn’t anyone trying to “reach me”, or I simply don’t know they are, and if they are, I don’t really care. This is one of the benefits of flying, It can be relatively stress free.
Unless you suffer from Aviophobia or Aviatophobia, and if you do, well your probably not on a plane. A fear of flying is a level of anxiety so great that it prevents a person from traveling by air, or causes great distress to a person when he or she is compelled to travel by air. The most extreme manifestations can include panic attacks or vomiting at the mere sight or mention of an aircraft or air travel.
I have had two circumstances in the last couple of years that made me afraid to fly. Luckily, that feeling passed quickly. I want to share with you these two circumstances. I hope that my stories don’t scare you away from Air Travel, after all it really is safer than driving a car.
Assume the Position
These three words scare me and I don’t just mean as a reference to flying. As I think about these three words, I have a hard time coming up with a reason why this phrase would be considered positive. Sometime ago I had reason to fly from Phoenix to the Long Beach Airport in Southern California. This is a small, easy airport and one that is centrally located in the South Los Angeles area. The route takes you from Phoenix to the coast of Southern California, out over the Pacific Ocean, then turns back into the coast to land at the Long Beach Airport.
If your flying this itinerary, you will most likely be aboard a small regional jet, not a 747 mind you. So right off the bat your cramped, two seats on one side and one seat on the other, thats right, 3 seats across the fuselage, thats a small plane. This was by all accounts an uneventful flight, the best kind in my book. Took off on time, everything was going as planned.
Until we flew past the coast and over the Pacific Ocean, just before we began our turn back to the Airport, the captain came on the speaker to announce that we have lost one of our two engines. He also went on to say that the second (and only) engine was also having problems. That we have been cleared for an emergency landing and we must Assume the Position (also called Brace Position). If your not aware of what this means, then you either have not been flying in your lifetime, or you have not been listening to your flight attendants.
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Correct Brace Position |
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Incorrect Brace Position |
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