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Key points
- Flight anxiety seems based on no control and no escape.
- The illusion of being in control and the imagination of walking away after a car crash make driving feel safer than flying.
- No major U.S. airline has crashed in over twenty years, yet a crash in China is causing anxiety in the U.S.
When I checked my email Monday morning, there were several emails asking about the crash of a 737 in China. One email said "I woke up to that article alert this morning. It made me feel hopeless again and imagined the terror of falling 30k feet in 1.5 minutes. All I could envision was horror for those people."
And, "I have done well with flying recently. But now I heard about the China plane crash and am panicking. Can you send me any reassurance about my plane not crashing?"
I can offer reassurance in two forms. First, intellectual reassurance. We have had no crashes of a major U.S. airline in over twenty years. What happened in China does not change that. What happened yesterday does not make flying unsafe today. We've heard "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." I think it is worth applying that to this crash. What happened there has no impact on the safety here unless it turns out that the crash was caused by a problem common to all 737-800s. If so, then changes need to be made everywhere, not just where the crash happened.
For argument's sake, let's say such a problem with the plane is discovered. There are over four thousand 737-800s in service. Most have been in service for years. If a problem that took that much exposure to develop, it is not likely to arise on your plane on your flight.
Whenever a problem is discovered, a fix is developed and installed on the planes. In every case I know about, the fix is in place before it causes another crash.
Thus I see no reason to reconsider travel plans. That's the intellectual side of it. But it may be worth thinking about the emotional side. Why does flying - though so much safer than driving - cause anxiety. One reason is we can't see what holds the plane up. With nothing holding it up - at least nothing we can see - it looks like it should fall.
Car travel feels safer because of the illusion of control. We do control our car, but we don't control other drivers. We may have only a fraction of a second to act if another car comes at us. In a plane, we see a plane coming toward us on our anti-collision system display when it is miles away. If you ask a pilot, he or she will tell you they have much more control in a plane. Though pilots feel in control, passengers don't. Meeting the captain, though, can help you feel connected with the person who does have control.
Cars also give us the illusion of escape. When we think of a car crash, we can imagine being able to walk away. But if we think of a plane crash, we don't imagine walking away.
