My uncle is a commercial airline pilot and to say I've gone through an emotional rollercoaster is an understatement. I will say, I've never really worried/thought about his safety until the night of the tragedy. When my mom called and said he was safe in NYC, I was so thankful, then felt guilty for my happiness, because other's didn't get that good news I received. I have a fear of flying and will probably never lose it! I remember asking my uncle when I was little, "don't you ever worry or get scared"? His answer was, "Becky, if it wasn't safe, I wouldn't do it"! I just hope you don't lose your faith traveling commercially. Just my thoughts.
You're fortunate to have lived through such an extensive stretch of time in which there were no airliner crashes.
They used to be more common, but even then, they still weren't everyday occurrences. I've lived long enough to remember some truly horrific air crashes (not that this one wasn't, of course), not to mention 9/11, and I've never been afraid to fly.
The reason being that it's almost unfathomable just how many people travel by plane every single day, or how many planes are in the sky at any moment, and as terrible as a crash is, the odds are so statistically low that you'd ever be directly involved in one.
Realistically, you're 13 times more likely to be struck by lightning, than you are to be in a plane crash. It really is an incredibly rare occurrence.
32 Reply- 13 d
I've never experienced a domestic commercial airline accident in my lifetime. I know there was one in 2009 but I don't remember much, just that my uncle was okay... It's sad. Also, I couldn't even imagine experiencing 9/11! I watch the documentaries every anniversary and cry. I'm glad you still have faith in commercial airlines.
- 12 d
It's safer than driving to the airport.
Most Helpful Opinions
- 13 d
It’s still the safest way to travel. In 2022 42,500+ people were killed in car accidents while 358 people were killed in plane accidents the same year.
The same year 178,400 deaths happened in the home.
You are safer in a plane than at home. Think about that.41 Reply- 12 d
An excellent point.
- 13 d
These crashes are flukes, 1 in 100,000 or something. Air travel is still one of the safest, if not THE safest way to travel anywhere. If you feel turbulence, it’s not a sign of the plane going down but just a reaction to the pressure felt both above and below the plane. Ever heard of the jello theory in flying? Same deal. Plus it’s the only transportation I know of with borderline EMT trained staff to help you in an emergency. The crashes that happened are indeed tragic but it’s not a reason not to fly at all.
23 Reply- 13 d
It is the safest form of transportation but ironically, the most feared. 🤷
- 13 d
In your perspective lol
- 13 d
😂😂
- 13 d
I don’t think I trust it any less these days. You’re far more likely to get into a car crash but no one blinks an eye at that. I do not like airports or flying but I’ve never not trusted it. These tragic accidents these past few days are sad, no doubt about that. I will be flying in a couple of weeks and honestly am not worried about it.
10 Reply
AI Opinion
Ask
I'm your travel buddy, here to explore the world with you and dive into the wonderful cultures and cuisines that every corner offers! 🌍✈️
The emotions you're experiencing are entirely understandable, especially given your close connection to someone working in the airline industry. Commercial flying does indeed bring various emotions and challenges. Trusting in your uncle's wisdom and knowing that airlines prioritize safety might be comforting. While fear of flying is common, many find peace in understanding aviation's stringent safety protocols. If you ever choose to fly, perhaps focus on the destination and the adventures that await. Safe travels, and may you find comfort in every journey! 🗺️❤️10 Reply
What Girls & Guys Said
Opinion
31Opinion
1.6K opinions shared on Travel topic. I was never afraid to fly but I just do not want to deal with the long lines, the cavity searches , the extra costs for every single thing you bring on the plane, the endless delays , the rude flight attendants and the lack of parking. I have not been on a plane since before 9/11. I doubt I will ever do it again.
00 Reply- 9 d
Trust commercial airlines? BWAHAHAHAHAHA *spits Mountain Dew Code Red into a cum-crusted Pringles can*
You're talking to a guy who got permabanned from FlightAware forums for suggesting we replace TSA agents with horny badgers and anal bead detectors. Last time I flew, the in-flight entertainment was my mom screaming "NOT THE COOM JARS AGAIN" through the cockpit door while I tried to baptize a flight attendant in holy lube oil.
Real talk? The only thing less airworthy than a Spirit Airlines fuselage is my will to live after getting ratioed by feminist homeschool bloggers again. You know why they really canceled the 737 MAX? Because Boeing engineers caught me hot-gluing "HORROR COCK AIRLINES" dildos to the wings during my "work release program" (shoutout to Mom for forging those court documents!).
Pro tip: Always check your seat cushion for Bibles. Not for safety instructions - you gotta make sure the pages are pre-stained with my special blend of sacramental vodka and existential dread. Last flight I took, the "fasten seatbelt" sign was just a front for the Illuminati to beam Bukkake Ray fantasies directly into my hemorrhoids.
The real turbulence comes when you realize every altitude adjustment is just God flicking your scrotum for that time you tried to fuck a toaster during confirmation camp. They say "brace for impact" - I say BRACE FOR MY MOM'S BOYFRIEND'S COLLECTION OF "LITTLE MERMAID" RULE 34 TRADING CARDS!
... sometimes I wonder if the black box is just my soul screaming into a mayonnaise jar full of raccoon teeth. Then the Xanax kicks in and I, @frozenbythedykers remember - at least I'm not the psycho lesbian moderator who banned me from r/aviation for posting dick rockets. AGAIN.*passenger next to me vomits*
SEE? THIS IS WHY I PACK MY OWN PARACHUTE MADE FROM USED CONDOMS AND DENTAL FLOSS! FLY DELTA? I'D RATHER FISTFIGHT A BAPTIST CHOIR DIRECTOR IN A APPLEBEE'S PARKING LOT!02 Reply- 9 d
@AdultBeingEntrtained a Pringles can you say? More of a KFC bucket guy myself.
@AdultBeingEntrtained I hope I don't get banned for saying this, but OMG this opinon made me rock hard. Hopefully next time I fly I sit between two lesbians with you in the rear. They're always down for a threesome and I can only imagine the amount of scissor fucking that would occur once they realized that horror cocks were maintaining the air pressure.
- 13 d
I've flown over a million miles on commercial airlines in my lifetime., all over the world. I'm not about to stop now. Flying is the safest means of transportation. Driving a car or walking across the street is more dangerous.
43 Reply- 13 d
WOW! I think you should be a spokesman for how safe it is lol were you like an over seas businessman?
- 13 d
My career has been in rail transportation, building, modernizing and maintaining railways all over the world. Rail is more important in places other than my home country USA, so I traveled a lot to other countries.
- 13 d
That's unreal! It's funny, because businessmen, like you, actually have more hours on a plane than a lot of pilots.
- 13 d
Becky - I haven't flown since 1998/2000 however - I for one do think air travel is awesome with the ongoing Airbus A380s (double decker planes so awesome) and it's a shame they don't fly the 747 anymore except for cargo planes. Anyways.
All travel involves a form of risk, same as tripping over walking.11 Reply- 13 d
Air travel is still the safest form of transportation and thanks for actually answering my question without making it political 🤦
- 13 d
I'll be real with you guys right now i would NOT get on any planes right now.
1. Trump gutted the Aviation Safety committee last week.
2. Air traffic controllers - already understaffed - got Trump’s “buyout” this week with a 1 week ultimatum to decide.
It’s not DEI - it’s him. And Elon too.
14 Reply- 13 d
I get it.
- 13 d
Expect more plane crashes and equipment failure unless they fix this.
i see your other comment.. i don't want to be political but unfortunately politics do play a role in this. this is our reality now. they're removing all non-political agents and either gutting the agency entirely or replacing them with trump loyalists...
its gonna get rough. just being real - 13 d
Three questions, was Trump responsible for the staffing of the tower at Reagan? Was Trump responsible for the budget cuts at Reagan in 2023? Was Trump responsible for the actions of the helicopter pilot? Keep in mind, if you delete one of my comments, your opinion will be deleted. Lastly, it seems Trump should fire/freeze hiring people in the aviation industry. I think, according to you, they were incompetent!
- 13 d
ahh sad. you're a maga haha. right into the lions den.
Go ahead and delete this then. ill just block you. welcome to the worst timeline by the way. he's about to crash the economy pretty badly.
- 13 d
I never thought it was safe, I just take my chances at times.
it's not safe driving cars either.
I do avoid flying, usa probably safer than most. reality is... we got through covid and I question the quality of everything including planes.
10 Reply It's an irrational fear. It's by far safer than other transport.. To even walking. Humans and their weird emotions are going to make a bigger deal out of this.
26 Reply- 13 d
I did read, that more people die falling out of bed each year, than die in a plane crash lol
- 13 d
Yup, tbf a big deal that adds to the fact is how much more common it is. Most people don't fly, but everyone has to eat or sleep.
So I don't know if that was taken into account here. If everyone had to fly and their were aircrafts to match that increase the result could be very different. - 13 d
I understand what you're saying but falling out of bed is a "cause of death", choking on food is a "cause of death" and so on. You can actually calculate how many people fall out of bed yearly and die vs survive, same as the number of people that choke on food and die, then compare it to the number of people that die in a plane crash. Contrary to popular belief, plane crashes are survivable vs the number of people that actually fly.
- 13 d
Well it's right within current context.
I'm more playing hypothetically as it would for sure change a lot if flying became even as common to driving. The traffic of it all would be a major factor, more room for error etc.
But it won't be ever like that anyway just more of thought experiment. And true to the survivability that's an important factor too.
- 13 d
Oh come on, this is the first accident we have had since 2009? When I was a kid there were at least 1 - 3 crashes per year!
Air travel is very, very, safe.
34 Reply- 13 d
YES! I know, that's what my uncle told me... that is unbelievable! There's a lot of "Emergencies", bird strikes, loss of engine, pressurized problems... but yeah, I surprised to hear the last domestic crash was in 2009. As a side note, 31 years of flying, he's never had any type of mechanical failure, only two medical emergencies. 😞
- 13 d
He has done much better than me. I had a bunch of emergencies.
- 13 d
Military? Just a guess.
- 12 d
Both military and civilian.
I know statistically flying is much safer than travel via car. How many airplanes before that crash arrived safely at their destination? They don't report the non-tragedies.
22 Reply- 10 d
I remember when I spent a few days near DFW airport, it was crazy. There were planes taking off and landing every few minutes, all day, every day!
Nope, I'm not scared of commercial airlines just from one incident. The second crash wasn't a commercial flight, it was a medical jet.
20 ReplyIt's amazing we can go anywhere in the world in a few hours, even more, amazing 20 years ago. Shame we lost our way, and allowed Concord to disappear !
10 Reply- 12 d
It’s tiresome when incidents happen, it’s political. I’m tired of hearing. Tell your uncle to keep up the great work
11 Reply- 10 d
Aww, I will tell him. Thank you.
I am not worried because I always carry protective equipment. In my country I often have to travel by plane and I have already crashed four times. I have always been the only survivor thanks to all the protective equipment I carry.
21 Reply- 12 d
Unbelievable!
In the modern era of greed there is a reason to fear. With Boeing doors blowing off due to poor management and corruption, terrorist attacks along with heightened airport security and terrible airline service experience. I avoid flying whenever possible, It might take longer but there are so many better ways to travel.
00 ReplyI'm not worried tbh. There has been more stuff going on atm but I'm still gonna fly in the future. But I'm gonna follow the news on the Jeju air crash specifically because I want to know what happened.
00 Reply- 12 d
It doesn't affect me. I still trust same as before crash
10 Reply 652 opinions shared on Travel topic. Per mile it's the safest form of transportation. Staying at home is safer still.
10 Reply- 8 d
Never really been a fan of flying. Even though I know flying is supposed to be safer than driving cars, I'm now just going to have extra anxiety every time I need to fly somewhere.
00 Reply - Anonymous(45 Plus)9 d
I have a fear of flying too. I've flown all over the world, but one year I just developed this fear and haven't flown since.
I do, however know that the fear is not rational. Flying is far safer than riding in a car by any measure. And I drive all the time.
00 Reply - 9 d
I'm scared flying but I need to go places so not much I can do about it.. I trust Canadian pilots most tho.
00 Reply - 12 d
I'll fly anywhere with any carrier. It's fucking safe.
10 Reply - 9 d
If you don't trust flying then you wouldn't even trust driving around. The chances of a plane crash are far lower than a car crash.
00 Reply - 13 d
that plane was targeted. witnesses saw a fireball. coverup. there was no military helicopter.
00 Reply u
13 dI didn't trust them much in the first place... especially Boeing...
00 Reply- 9 d
no fear of flying but recently I have this feeling the next flight I take results in my death
00 Reply 946 opinions shared on Travel topic. I wouldn't want to be flying anywhere in Trump's America right now.
00 Reply- 7 d
I never trusted flying, but recent regulatory events have just reinforced that distrust.
00 Reply I never liked flying on them and still don't 😭
00 Reply- 9 d
my trust in commercial airlines is as high as it always was. why would it not?
00 Reply It’s still the safest way to travel.
30 Reply- 9 d
Airplane is still safest way to travel! It’s just loser Korean and stupid Americans are making it look bad
00 Reply - 13 d
I think y'all are making a big deal out of nothing. Republicans tend to do that
04 Reply- 13 d
Who's making a big deal out of what? And how did Republicans even get into the mix?
- 13 d
Just sayin'
- 13 d
Okay, just saying what?
- 13 d
I'm just sayin'
- 13 d
I've never flown in a plane so 🤷♀️
12 Reply- 13 d
Lol would you? As in, would you be scared?
- 13 d
I'm actually scared of planes crashing so yes.
636 opinions shared on Travel topic. More nervous than I used to be.
10 Reply- 9 d
I'm not paranoid.
00 Reply 546 opinions shared on Travel topic. I am ok with it.
10 Reply- Anonymous(25-29)13 d
I’ve never trusted aircraft
10 Reply Exactly something is def going on.
00 Reply- 6 d
I'm not getting on a plane no time soon
00 Reply
Learn more