I’m a pilot and there is one thing you should always do if you are a nervous flyer
A PILOT has revealed the one thing a passenger should do if they are a nervous flyer. Harrison Murray shared a video on Tiktok giving his followers some advice for their next flight. He responded to a question from a nervous flyer. They said: “I’m going to New York next week from from UK, bricking […]
A PILOT has revealed the one thing a passenger should do if they are a nervous flyer.
Harrison Murray shared a video on Tiktok giving his followers some advice for their next flight.
He responded to a question from a nervous flyer. They said: “I’m going to New York next week from from UK, bricking it. Any tips to calm my anxiety? Leaving my kids for the first time and terrified something will go wrong.”
He revealed the best thing anxious flyers can do to help calm their nerves is to make a list of all the things they are worried about.
He said: “I’d recommend writing a list. Write down everything that makes you worried, anxious or scared, then cross out absolutely everything that you have no control over-focus on the things that you have.”
He went on to give more tips to nervous flyers to make themselves feel less anxious.
Make a plan
His second tip was for nervous flyers to make a plan so they feel more in control.
He recommended watching videos of planes to help familiarise yourself with a flight.
He said: “It’s important to familiarise yourself with what’s going to happen on the day. If you’ve got a plan in place, you kind of feel a little bit more in control.
“I’d go on YouTube, I’d watch some videos on how do planes fly – understanding the basics I think will help.
“Watch some videos of take off and landing, [with a] cockpit view so you can see what the boys and girls are doing.
“So when you’re sat down the back and it’s all happening, you kind of know what’s happening and hopefully that’ll help you out.”
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Know where you’ll be sat
His next piece of advice was to check online to see where your seat will be before you get on the plane.
He said: “You can go to seatguru.com and check out the seating plan of the aircraft and have an idea of where the best places are.”
His other tip was to pick an aisle seat to give yourself more space to move around.
He said: “If you are an anxious or claustrophobic person, I’d recommend going for an aisle seat, that way you’ve got nobody blocking you in and when the seatbelt sign’s off, go for a walk, bit of breathing exercises, hopefully that’ll calm you down.
“Try and get a picture of the cabin that you’ll be flying on as well so when you step onboard it’s not the first time you’ve seen it and it’ll make you feel a little bit better.”
Don’t watch plane crash videos
This one may sound obvious, but Harrison advised nervous flyers not to watch plane crash videos before catching a flight.
He warned it “ain’t going to do you any favours” to see clips of planes coming down just before you board.
He said: “Limit the air crash investigation videos or any videos or films with plane crashes in – this ain’t going to do you any favours.”
Harrison followed that up with some plane crash statistics to try to put nervous flyers at ease.
He said: “You’re more likely to be hit by a car or die in a car crash than flying. It’s one in 17,000 you’re likely to have a fatality in a car and it’s one in 287m flying a plane.
“Lightening is one in 90m, so the odds are pretty good.”
Don’t drink too much alcohol
A lot of flyers like to get a drink from the trolley while they’re on a flight to celebrate the start of a holiday.
But Harrison warned nervous flyers not to drink too much as the alcohol affects you more at altitude.
He said: “When you get on the plane, you can have a couple of alcoholic drinks. Try and limit these, don’t have too many, because at altitude the alcoholic drinks will affect you more.”
Go on a fear of flying course
Harrison’s final piece of advice for nervous flyers was to take a fear of flying course to help ease anxiety.
He said: “If you’re still feeling a bit scared, go for a fear of flying course. A few of my followers have been commenting about these and they’re saying these are pretty good.”
Other cabin crew have shared advice for passengers planning on catching a flight.
A flight attendant revealed how to stop your ears from popping while travelling.
Another flight attendant warned passengers there is one thing they should never ask during boarding.
A third flight attendant revealed the things you should never wear on a plane, unless you want to have an uncomfortable journey – and even risk your life.
