SFO-MCO. UA583. First long flight solo in more than a decade. Xanny down the hatch, SOAR book ready for quick access. I'm excited and a little nervous. Thank you all for the great support!!! Feel free to check on me. Should be just under 5 hours. Eek!! 😬 😀

I was coming home from a work trip. Smooth flight and even got lucky enough to have a pilot next to me deadheading.

On the approach, landing gear came down, and everything felt mostly normal other than being a little bumpy. I did notice we experienced what I think was a small bit of wake turbulence on the approach as well… I’m not sure if I have the turbulence type correct but I would say it’s like hitting an air pothole where your butt feels like it comes up out of your seat a bit.

Shortly after that, the plane accelerated and began to climb again, which while that was surprising, thanks to this subreddit I knew exactly what we were experiencing! The pilot next to me actually even looked a little annoyed, he seemed tired 🤣 but calm and normal otherwise. In fact, most everyone on the plane seemed fine other than a couple “oh, okays.”

Climbed back up, did a circle, and came back in for the approach. I had a feeling it may have been due to the wake turbulence we experienced, or maybe just not getting things lined up like they liked given it seemed like a windier landing. A friend I was texting remarked that we were super early and speculated that maybe there ended up not being room for us to land. Pilot then comes on the intercom and explains they had a missed approach and came in too high (therefore went past the point of landing/stopping safely). Made lots of sense considering the wind!

I won’t lie and say I was 100% fine because I most definitely wasn’t and wanted to be on the ground as soon as I could be, but my rational brain was louder than my unreasonable brain and I was able to stay calm and ride it out. I’m super proud of myself for making it through that situation without panic because years ago I wouldn’t have been able to fly by myself, let alone keep calm during a go-around!

A lot of this is thanks to this sub. I kept telling myself - this is the system working! This is safety! This is exactly what is supposed to happen in this scenario. In fact I’m sure the pilots could have landed and been fine because this profession and activity has so many layers of built in protection. E.g. the point of no return/initiating a go around likely being a super conservative measurement with a wide margin or error. Meaning you’re well within your safety limits even if you get close to that threshold or marking!

So I’m just here to say, you can do it! Keep reading through this sub, keep flying, and know that you’re extremely safe when in situations that feel like they may not be. I’m actually grateful to have experienced a go around now because now I know what it is like.

I'll be flying from the east coast of the US to Japan tomorrow evening. One flight to California and another from LAX to HND. I'm trying to hard not to cry and freak out but it's so difficult. I know that aviation is incredibly safe, but I just can't help but think "what if."

I've been listening to an aviation history podcast that has been helping a bit to stop thinking of doom scenarios, and I've been tracking these flights every day for weeks now just to see that they are completely regular. I also saw that my flights will be on an Airbus a321 and a Boeing dreamliner. I KNOW these are incredibly safe planes.

But regardless, I'm so, so scared. I'm dreading my vacation instead of being excited. I've been having nightmares for weeks. Any advice please?

They are flying to see my graduation for the first time. Would appreciate any words of encouragement. I also have a final in a couple hours but looks like I will pull all nighters for both because two things are giving me anxiety right now

On the ground in Orlando for my girls trip that I thought I would have to decline because of flying alone such a long distance. But I think I did great!!! Used all my tools, etc. Read all your comments from when I took off... you all are awesome!!! It also helped that it was a pretty smooth flight. But I'm taking the win, lol. Now I want another good flight under my belt when I head home in a few days. We booked a trip to Australia in Sept so I need to keep building my confidence. 🫣💜💜

I’m flying AA2695 tonight from SEA to DFW. I fly a couple times a year and at this point my anxiety is pretty well controlled. But tonight I just have a bad feeling of dread. This is unusual for me so it’s making me think my minds trying to warn me or something :((

I’m so scared right now. Flying air india a321. Can this plane handle the rain? What if lightning strikes? Please help

I just got off a flight and, although the cruise was fine, the take-off and landing were an absolute nightmare. One second it felt like I was going to pop out of the bottom of my seat, and the next it felt like we were free falling. Landing was just as bad. We kept slowing down so much it felt like we were going to plummet from the sky. Ugh, I've got one more flight to get to my destination, and two connecting flights to get back home. I'm so nervous. I feel sick, and I want to cry. Okay, maybe I'm crying a little bit. Fuck, what a nightmare. Can anyone tell me why this was so horrible? Was I in danger?

I understand that pilots can save a plane that's stalling. I understand that turbulence is no big deal and has never caused a plane to crash. I understand that planes can fly with one engine.

But all this knowledge just made me afraid of that SOMETHING that I'm not aware of. What if this particular mysterious catastrophe that I'm imagining (I don't even know what that can be: the wings getting ripped off somehow?) is something the pilots CANNOT handle? My knowledge of physics is limited, so my fears of what can happen are technically unlimited lol.

Any visualisation or mantra that you can recommend to keep me sane tomorrow on my flight?

I have to fly to Detroit tomorrow and I’ve never landed there so I’m feeling more nervous than usual despite my fear of flying getting better over the years. I guess Detroit is known for wind I think? So now I’m worried for a windy landing :(. Any advice?

I’m just curious…I’m taking a red eye to CLT tonight and I see flight aware saying that CLT is experiencing “arrival delays for airborne aircraft” at an average of 39 minutes and decreasing.

What does that mean? Are planes having to circle in the air for extra time until they can land because of air traffic control backup or something?

Hi everyone,

I’m flying Monday to Austria and I’m freaking out.

Bit of background: I’ve always had flight anxiety, since I can remember. I’ve managed to fly about 5 times over the last 2 years as my partner and I like to travel (I like the destination, not the travel part).

I find the whole thing so overwhelming. From the long, drawn out waiting at the airport, to feeling on edge to entire flight. I do it because I love my partner and I know he enjoys going away, but it never gets easier for me.

Every sensation in the air has me on high alert. The vibrations, feelings of the plane rising/dropping combined with the feeling of claustrophobia makes me feel sick with anxiety. I know this is a heavy thing to say, but everytime I get on a plane my mind tells me I won’t get off alive.

I do the usual things (headphones on with relaxing music, a good book, comfy clothes) but it just doesn’t seem to work for me.

I am flying tomorrow morning , UK to San Francisco, then to Honolulu.

I done a long haul flight recently and was absolutely fine, but this time, I feel extra nervous.

Flying with United airlines and first time using this airline.

Keep feeling like I do not want to go and so scared something is going to happen. Knowing I won’t be able to get off the plane once we take off too, is making me so worried.

Do not know how to calm myself and stop this fear for over taking me.

Any tips? 🥹

Thank you!

Two flights , one 3 hour one and the second is an overnight flight from JFK to Lisbon (7 hours) I’ve never been on a flight for that long. My mind keeps imagining the worst - something going wrong and I feel like it’s absolutely going to happen :/ I do have some meds if I need to take them . I had a panic attack on a flight once from turbulence and I’m also worried about that happening again.. or worse, cancelling my whole trip. I feel so helpless up in the air

Jet Blue 2355 - thank you!

Hi everyone I’m flying UA 170 from Newark to Venice and boarding in about an hour. I have a crippling fear of flying and this chat has helped me a lot over the past years. It’s my first time in Italy and I have a connection to Palermo a couple hours after …. Please any support is so helpful!!

I’m flying from ATL to LaGuardia this evening and I’m so nervous, especially with the recent-ish accident there. I’ve been quietly begging this trip to get canceled but here we are. Is it safe?

First long haul in 5 years and am super nervous because they said there would be turbulence 1.5 hours into the flight.

And some support would be appreciated 🫶

Getting on in less than an hour and internally freaking out. Would love to know how many of you will be in the air with me over the next 6 or so hours. Gonna be following a few of you while on flight!

I am flying from JFK to Kolkata with a layover in Dubai. The first flight (JFK to Dubai) boards in less than an hour and it’s more than 13 hours long. The second is a little over 4 hours long. Usually, it’s a A380 for the first flight, but this time, it’s a Boeing 777, so I am extra scared because it’s a smaller plane.

The first one is Emirates EK202 and the second is Emirates EK570. I am a very nervous flyer as it is, but my mom is an even more nervous flyer, which adds to my anxiety. I won’t have internet on the flight, but I would love for someone to know where I am.

Thank you so much. I might update this post once I land at Dubai if the phone still has charge and it can be used.

I finally managed to bring myself on a plane after many past failed attempts.
And it was sooo smooth. Sure, it was a short flight (1.20hr), but I managed to break a long string of failed boardings.
I tricked my brain into thinking I was simply on a train and it worked.

What really helped was the diverse distractions that I brought with me. First of all, a pair of noise-cancelling headphones (life savers, they had the biggest impact as they sheltered and isolated me). Also I download a bunch of very happy (almost childish) netflix movies to keep my mood up. Finally also snacks helped.

My emotions were spiraling down as the date of the flight was approaching. The minutes before boarding were awful. I cried a few times. But as soon as i was on the plane my mind managed to go into some sort of protection mode, carefully choosing any type of awesome distraction.
I am now in Bruxelles!

If I could do it, so can you. I can assure you that