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Comment by davidw | Hacker News Reader

Ugh, I know exactly how that guy feels. I hate flying with an abiding passion (indeed, I view their 30 day trip as about as much fun as hitting myself in the nuts with a hammer over the course of a month). It is completely and totally irrational, but there's not much to be done about it. Drinking helps, some, but they don't serve drinks during takeoff, which is the worst part (I usually manage to relax a bit after about a half an hour of total panic).

The "can't get off" part is really important too.

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I don't hate "flying". I went halfway to getting a pilot's license just because I've always wanted to learn how to fly (for real, not in simulators).

It's not the flying that makes me hate flying on airliners; it's being locked up in a cramped, uncomfortable, jetlag-inducing space that makes me feel like a pig on a CAFO, where I always emerge to my destination with a splitting headache due to an old neck injury.

I don't generally have claustrophobia, but I'm sure that also has something to do with people's feelings about flying on airliners.

I dont mind flying at all - but sometimes the claustrophobia hits me and I immediately have a sudden vision of wrenching open the door and falling thousands of feet.

It passes in a few seconds but it's pretty scary!

> about as much fun as hitting myself in the nuts with a hammer over the course of a month

Actually having been hit in the nuts by a cricket bowling machine (I.e. a baseball * 1.3 weight at about 50 miles/hour), I can tell you that every other concern seems petty in comparison for the 20 or so minutes it takes to get ones senses back. But I'm not about to recommend it as therapy.

Actually I made a calculation error. I would have been about 80 miles an hour.

There is an important parallel between the fear of flying and the fear of striking out on your own. There are so many things that are beyond your control, and taking-off (in either context) is the riskiest part.

I never cease to be amazed at the first moment when an airplane feels like a kite in the wind right after takeoff.

No, there is no parallel at all, at least in my experience. Fear of striking out on your own is something that everyone should have a little of - it's healthy. But my fear of flying/heights is completely irrational and very strong.

I got a lot less comfortable flying after working in engineering for a major US airliner. I participated in an investigation as to why an engine suffered a catastrophic failure. The investigation was indecisive, the most likely conclusion being some mistake made in maintenance. There are still plenty of Boeing 757s with Rolls Royce engines flying so I don't think this particular event was indicative of an actual flaw with the engine.

Rather, what makes me uncomfortable, is that sometimes very important parts of the plane blow up and the engineers can't figure out why. But hey, at least there are two or four engines and three or more power supplies.

I'm not worried (much) about crashes and the like: I realize it's not very likely.

I'm anxious because I'm very high up in a small tin can and can't get down.

The last two flights I took, there was something physically wrong with the plane. The first of which occurred after takeoff (the landing gear would not retract), forcing us to circle at low altitude for about 40 minutes before landing; and the second required us to be grounded for about 60 minutes (a component on the wing needed to be replaced in order to pump fuel into the plane).

It doesn't give me much confidence in the quality controls of flying, but the fear mindset is much more insidious - and more importantly - in my own personal control. Whenever that mindset kicks in, I joke to myself that life has been good to me, and usually that takes care of things...

You might be able to get a prescription from a doctor for Xanax. It's an anti-anxiety drug and it's addictive, but one for each flight won't cause any problems. A friend of mine does that for his flights.

See my reply to rms. It wasn't xanax, but something in that family of substances. It didn't really seem to do much for the anxiety.

Sorry to hear that - I suppose mileage varies. My friend has a real fear of flying, and Xanax makes him not care at all (or about anything else, really - it's a good thing his wife was around to keep in line).

On the flip side, I sat next to a woman who had taken two Xanax and drank two screwdrivers during a three hour flight, and still gripped my hand (a complete stranger) during landing.

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