We’ve all heard it said that traveling by air is safe. Statistics more than back up this claim. However, there are still some people out there who are absolutely terrified of flying. So terrified in fact, that some people go through some major anxiety attacks just thinking of the possibility of hoping on a plane. Are you one of these people and are you about to go on a trip somewhere? Then you’ve come to the right place. Although we won’t claim to be able to rid you of your flight anxiety, we just might be able to reduce it a bit. These are 25 Reasons Why Fear Of Flying Is Plane Silly (see what we did there, fear of flying…plane silly).
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First of all, there are more than 10,000 planes in the air right now
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There are about 100,000 passenger flights scheduled every single day
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That's not even counting military, cargo, air taxis, and general aviation
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According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in the United States alone 1.73 million people boarded flights every single day in 2010
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Actually, flying is by far the safest form of travel
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You are 22 times more likely to be in an accident on the way to the airport in your car than you are during your flight
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Actually, if you do die on an airplane, it's more likely that you'll die of a heart attack or even choking on your food than falling out of the sky
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To be honest, even walking is more dangerous. According to the National Safety Council walking is one of the most dangerous modes of transport in terms of fatal accidents
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Going back to driving and car accidents, how often do you inspect your car? If ever?
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Well, planes are inspected constantly. After every single flight.
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Turbulence is actually not dangerous. Planes are no more likely to fall from the sky during heavy turbulence than in otherwise normal conditions
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And lightning strikes? Most airliners get hit on average every couple years but you wouldn't even know it.
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Actually, you're more likely to die getting hit by lightning on your way to get into your car to go to the airport
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To really blow your mind, you have a greater chance of dying by falling out of your bed
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Ok, let's put it this way, every year hippos kill more people than planes do
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In 2013 three billion people flew on airplanes. That's half the world's population.
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There were only 210 fatalities
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As humans, we tend to remember the catastrophes and forget everything else, so our memories are very biased
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Consider that most accidents happen during takeoff and landing. And the vast majority of those accidents are anything but fatal.
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Furthermore, consider that planes are lining up in front of you and behind you to takeoff
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The runway you are on has most likely seen constant use since its construction without a single accident
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Your pilot and copilot and entire flight staff have flown most of their careers and will continue flying for the rest of their careers
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The reason that these statistics will not make you feel any better is because your brain will release stress hormones as soon as you feel that little bit of turbulence
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And you will quickly forget these statistics. But you know what? We'll try one more anyway. You probably think that when you get in a car crash you have a good chance of surviving but as soon as the plane starts going down you're doomed right? Wrong.
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Even if you do somehow manage to get in a plane crash (you won't), you will almost certainly survive. Between 1993 and 2000 there were 568 plane crashes in the US involving 53,487 people. 51,207 survived. Actually, even on the worst 26 crashes, more than half of the passengers survived. See? We told you that your fear was just plane silly.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
