Helps to minimise fear of flying, fantastic airline
Disadvantages:
Still frightened (didn't cure it completely)
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I’ve been a nervous flyer for many years, but I only became seriously terrified 18 months ago when the plane (Virgin Atlantic) I was travelling in dropped out of the sky. At the time, we were two hours into a flight across the Atlantic and the aircrew were serving dinner. All that separated us from the deep sea and sharks were 35,000 feet of night sky. Suddenly, the engines were screaming, the plane was shaking violently and the sea was approaching very rapidly. The airplane plunged out of the sky, the metal trolley lifted off the ground and bottles of wine flew into the air.
I always thought that I would be resigned and calm in the face of impending death. But I wasn’t. I shrieked. The person next to me said the Lord’s Prayer. People were crying and begging. It felt like a lifetime before the plane got under control. But in reality it was probably less than 2 minutes.
After the plane stabilised, the pilot came on the tannoy to say we had just experienced a serious case of Clear Air Turbulence (CAT). This happens when air moves at very fast speeds (normally around the tropics or mountains) and unlike normal turbulence caused by storms, cannot be picked up by radars. Therefore it comes on very unexpectedly and hence why airplanes warn you to always keep your seatbelt fastened. CAT is not normally that serious and the air stewardess who'd been travelling for 20 years said it was the worst she had ever experienced and weren't we lucky to have a story to tell our grandchildren of how we'd cheated death!
With six hours left of the flight I promised myself that as soon as I was on terra firma, I would never, ever fly again. I said to whomever is up there, please let me land safely and I will never fly. I should not have made this promise to myself because my life and livelihood depends on flying. I work for an international charity and until the incident used to fly longhaul once a month. My husband’s family also lives in the Caribbean and it is only fair that at least occasionally, we visit. In short, I need to overcome this fear.
I tried everything afterwards … sleeping pills, valium, hypnotherapy, specialist fear of flying books, tapes, reading up about aircraft statistics and CAT. But every night I still had nightmares that I was on a plane crashing and every time I flew, I relived the incident and cried.
A friend told me about flying without fear courses that some of the airlines run. I wanted to do the BA one (because you actually go up in the air), but the London courses were solidly booked for many months. I needed to fly before then, so I decided to do Virgin’s Fear of Flying course. The Virgin course does not involve a flight, because their research shows that if they asked people to fly, many people wouldn’t attend. And even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to concentrate because they would be so worried about having to take the flight later. I can see the logic of this argument, but with hindsight, I would have preferred a flight so the pilot could actually talk us through all the noises and what is happening.
Anyway, here’s my account of the day and then I’ll talk through whether it worked or not …
WHAT HAPPENS? 09:15 Arrive at Falcon Park (near Virgin’s headquarters at Gatwick Airport) to be greeted by a member of the flying without fear. We are given tea/coffee and asked to sit in groups. Each group has a flipchart and we write down some of our fears about flying: lack of control, being trapped, fear of heights, mechanical failure, terrorism. It’s comforting to know that others have the same concerns. However, as happens when you get a bunch of terrified people in a group, they can whip themselves up into a frenzy! I mean, I’d never worried about what would happen if the reverse thrust failed (didn’t even know there was such a thing!)
09:30 Introduction by course organiser, who introduces us to the Virgin Atlantic captain, who does the morning session, and David Landau (a relaxation counsellor) who does the afternoon. There was also a stewardess there to explain the flight crew’s role.
09:45 The pilot talks through the mechanics of flight and you get a chance to ask everything you want to know about airplanes. Almost all of the questions are along the lines of: “What happens if …” He was very patient because at every stage in his explanation of the theory of flight he was interrupted by another frightened question. I found this session the most useful, as beforehand everything was a mystery. I was worried the plane would flip over (impossible), that someone would try to open the door mid-flight and the air pressure would cause the plane to plummet (impossible), that the wings might snap off (impossible) and so on! But while he resolved some of my questions, there were others that he couldn’t or didn’t. My biggest fear was crashing in water at night-time. As the great Muhammed Ali once said when asked on TV what he most feared:
“Flying. That’s the only thing that terrifies me. I’m flying all the time and I feel it’s time for one to crash. I don’t control the plane. Some pilot does. Say we’re between America and England. And the engines stop. Now even if it gets down there without the engines, how am I gonna find my life-raft? And even if I do, how are they gonna see me in the dark? And what happens if a shark comes along and rubs against it?”
He couldn’t have summed up my biggest fear more eloquently. I am particularly worried about the Virgin Atlantic route: Barbados-London (this was where the incident happened). I know having followed the SkyMap on one of the TV channels (that plots your route) that there is a 4 hour stretch where the plane is nowhere near land. I asked the pilot what would happen if something went wrong mechanically with the plane. He said that it wouldn’t. But I persisted, “But if it did? Where would it go?” He then said that pilots always stay within an hour away from land, wherever possible. I carried on: “What about the Barbados route? There is at least 2 hours where it is more than an hour away from any land”. He just said: “Oh, it’s very unlikely”. I know I’m obsessed with this route (because I have to make it at least once a year for the rest of my life) and most people would give anything to go to Barbados even once. But, the long and the short of it was I came to the course to resolve my fear of this Virgin route and the pilot didn’t solve it … he dismissed the fear as ‘unlikely’. I think even the most terrified aerophobe knows that the air statistics show a crash is highly unlikely, but the problem is we always think that OUR plane will be the one in a million that crashes.
I also have one last point on this section, which I use to alternatively torture/amuse myself. When reading up on this course on the internet, I found an obituary for the Virgin Atlantic pilot that used to run the morning session. He died in a plane crash (not a commercial plane). Isn’t that ironic?
13:00 Lunch (when you can question the pilot/relaxation counsellor more)
14:00 Afternoon session with David Landau, Relaxation Counsellor. He leads you into the cockpit and seating area of an old plane, which has been taken apart and placed in the garden. We strap ourselves into our seats and David gets us to breathe deeply and relax every part of our bodies. He puts on a relaxation tape (of himself talking) and asks us to visualise ourselves enjoying the flight, feeling calm … basically putting positive suggestions into our minds. I can’t write very much about this session, as I don’t remember it well, mainly because I was hypnotised! Hope I didn’t dance around like a chicken.
When you arrive, you are given a copy of the relaxation tape to take home and listen to once a day for a month. Then listen whenever you get the opportunity. I did this and it does help you relax and I no longer stress in advance of getting on the flight. When flying a few months later, I even listened to it while waiting to board. It does make you very calm and sleepy, so please don’t listen to it while driving to the airport!
16:00 Round up and any other questions
17:30 End of the day!
BUT DID IT WORK? I enjoyed the day very much, especially meeting other nervous flyers. I keep in touch with a male Sikh friend I made there. It is especially tough for him because he wears a turban and post-September 11, he is really given a hard time at security and his nervous tapping fingers are misinterpreted by other passengers who stare at him when he is on the plane.
I wish I could say it worked. It did to a certain extent. I don’t worry weeks in advance, some of the nightmares have stopped and I am far less tense on take-off. But to cut a long op short, I’m still very frightened and a psychologist colleague thinks the near-death incident might have caused Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and perhaps I need more intensive therapy than a one-day course can offer. I can’t therefore blame Virgin for not curing me! Perhaps if you have a milder fear, you might find this course completely cures you. They do claim a 90% success rate.
What really helped about the course for me was the morning session and learning about how an aircraft functions. I’m now thinking the only thing left for me is to learn to fly myself! I’m seriously considering it, if I could save up some money for lessons (keep on reading those product ops guys!). So maybe in years to come, you might hear Captain Maia next time you’re flying. Just don’t be too scared!
DETAILS Virgin’s fear of flying course costs just over £150 and is held every month near Gatwick. You can contact Inspirit Training direct on 0800 083 5300 or via email on info@flyingwithoutfear.info.flyingfear
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Class flown most frequently
Economy
How often do you travel with this airline
Regularly
Where did you book
Directly with this airline
Safety
Good
How well does it cater for disabled people
Well
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