Triphap - Funny Travel Stories and Travel Horror Stories

Because I am one to always attempt to conquer my fears, I began learning about airplanes. I wanted to be able to identify the sounds the plane was making, of course under the theory that if I could understand what the plane and the pilot were doing, the noises and G force wouldn't terrify me anymore. In theory, this idea was perfect. My fear only lay with take-off. Once the pilot reached cruising altitude, or during the descent, I was not afraid at all. So I scoured all the resources I could find to learn about airplane take-offs.

There was another time I was fortunate enough to sit next to an off-duty airline pilot. We started talking about the different sounds of the plane and what they meant so that I was really doing a lot better. I wasn't that nervous at all. The pilot went into great detail to explain to me that the aircraft we were flying on was a wonderful aircraft - particularly during landing. He told me that whenever I got to fly on that aircraft I should - the plane practically lands itself. I was grateful for his insight and settled down for the 2 hour... read more >>

I had to travel a lot for my job and I was never nervous about flying. It wasn't until I got married and had my first child that I begin to feel nervous onboard a plane. My fear eventually developed into sheer terror. I got to the point where I would dig my nails into poor unsuspecting travelers sitting next to me with tears streaming down my face or break out into a prayer chant every time we approached the runway, ready for take-off. The panic attacks got really bad and I'm really fortunate that the people sitting next to me were very compassionate and always, always offered words of encouragement or support instead of outright punching me in my nose for nearly drawing blood from them.

On a flight to Nashville, I went through my normal ritual of sobbing uncontrollably during take-off. As luck would have it, the man sitting next to me told me not worry and then revealed that he was an off-duty pilot for a very large airline. I was thrilled! After all, I was sitting next to a pilot of the airline I was flying, the largest airline in the country! What did I have to... read more >>