Nothing like reading about a few celebrity phobias to make a fearful flyer feel like being afraid of airplanes isn't the worst fear in the world.  Which lovely Aussie actress is afraid of other things that fly--would you believe butterflies?  She has to be in the minority with that fear, unlike fear of flying which is quite common. 

Who do you think is terrified of revolving doors?   He has a brilliant white smile but not when he's trying to get into a hotel with this kind of entrance. 

A fearless flyer recently admitted that her fear of flying was centered on being afraid to fly over water. “I’ve never flown over an ocean," she said. " In case of an emergency, where's the plane land?” I called in Capt. Ron for the pilot perspective and as always, he provided a helpful answer on why she shouldn't be afraid of flying over water: 

Knowledge is power is the message I deliver to people who have a fear of flying so I'm always searching for new information about the best way to help them cope with their fear.   I recently found a helpful article about fear and fear of flying that I'd like to share with you from Medill Reports, a publication by journalism students of Northwestern University in Chicago. 

Dr. Phil featured a woman yesterday who is virtually paralyzed by a huge list of fears and phobias.  Fear of flying is right near the top of the list--in fact, she had to FLY to be on the Dr. Phil show!  And her fear of flying almost grounded her from appearing on the show so she could get some help.

In the fear of flying business such as I am at Fearless Flight.com, I receive many emails from people wondering how to get over their fear.  One person recently wrote and asked me for "a recipe."  A fear of flying cocktail perhaps?  My answer probably disappointed this particular fearful flyer.  No recipe. No magic potion. Instead I actually recommended a good SNAP! 

A good snap?? If you're afraid to fly, you probably think I'm crazy.  Okay, it doesn't take one snap, but several.  Let me explain how it works.

If you have a fear of flying and are looking for reasons not to fly, you should  have listened to  travel expert Peter Greenberg on the Today Show this morning. Usually I try to convince people to visit Fearless Flight.com to overcome their fear of flying.  But Greenberg's information today made me scared to fly.  

A fearful flyer sent us this comment about his fear of flying through turbulence:  "I wish that pilots would communicate more with the passengers. For example, that they would explain the turbulence and how long it will likely last. Also I often find that when they say turbulence is coming and to fasten one's seatbelt, that turbulence turns out not to be as bad as the turbulence they don't notify you of."

What could be big enough to motivate you to overcome your fear of flying?  How about love?  That worked in the case of Darren McWalters who overcame his fear of heights yesterday to fly 1000 feet over England standing on the wings of a biplane.  Clearly this is not something someone with a fear of heights would think of doing--but STANDING on the wings of an airplane?? 

When I saw the headline, "Hole in Fuselage Forces Qantas Jet to Land," I immediately thought of how a fearful flyer might be reacting to this news.    Later I saw video on the Today show:  passengers putting their oxygen masks on;  the reporter saying, "The passengers heard a noise and then the plane dropped 20,000 feet." 

Then the picture of the parked Qantas plane with its gaping hole flashed on the screen as the reporter concluded, "The plane landed safely."   Passengers onboard clapped in relief.

If you've read any other of my blog posts, you might have seen previous references to Joanna.  I've written about her a couple of times as she continues her quest to overcome her fear of flying.  Notice I said "quest."  Nope, she's not there yet.  It's been a journey, and I'm not telling you her story so that you'll be discouraged and not ever begin to work on your own fear of flying.  I just want you to know that for many it's not an overnight fix.  It's a process, but with step-by-step choices, you CAN overcome a fear of flying.