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Help! Flying against jet stream on Sunday! Also nervous about plane (Airbus 310)

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RAGeneral	Help! Flying against jet stream on Sunday! Also nervous about plane (Airbus 310)	Lead	[-]
Posts: 4 (10/30/09 02:36:24) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Hi! I have lurked this Forum for a long time. Usually when I need to fly. I have flown a few times over the past few yrs. Last time we were flying through high clouds with turbulence for most of the flight. I didn't handle it well at all, and was gripping the chair for dear life. On Sunday I am flying from Montreal to Cuba. It is supposed to be windy in Montreal, and when I look at the forecast, we will be flying right against the jet stream until about Florida (3/4 of the flight) I am very nervous that it will be 3 hrs of turbulence. Also, the plane is an Air Transat Airbus 310. From my internet research these planes are older, and aren't known for being safe. Air Transat had an instance of the rudder falling off mid-flight, and just 2 weeks ago the windsheild was shattered during a flight to Europe. These two factors have made me very nervous, and I cant stop checking the internet to try to find reassurance. I should be looking foreward to a week of vacation, but instead I am worried about the plane. My wife, who is never nervous, is also scared. That is probably my influence, and also b/c we have a 10 month old baby who will be staying home with his grandparents. So we are nervous that we will be in a crash, and she is taking her nerves as a 'preminition' that we should cancel. Hi! I have lurked this Forum for a long time. Usually when I need to fly. I have flown a few times over the past few yrs. Last time we were flying through high clouds with turbulence for most of the flight. I didn't handle it well at all, and was gripping the chair for dear life. On Sunday I am flying from Montreal to Cuba. It is supposed to be windy in Montreal, and when I look at the forecast, we will be flying right against the jet stream until about Florida (3/4 of the flight) I am very nervous that it will be 3 hrs of turbulence. Also, the plane is an Air Transat Airbus 310. From my internet research these planes are older, and aren't known for being safe. Air Transat had an instance of the rudder falling off mid-flight, and just 2 weeks ago the windsheild was shattered during a flight to Europe. These two factors have made me very nervous, and I cant stop checking the internet to try to find reassurance. I should be looking foreward to a week of vacation, but instead I am worried about the plane. My wife, who is never nervous, is also scared. That is probably my influence, and also b/c we have a 10 month old baby who will be staying home with his grandparents. So we are nervous that we will be in a crash, and she is taking her nerves as a 'preminition' that we should cancel.
Capt Tom Bunn MSW LCSW		#1	[-]
Posts: 2742 (10/30/09 06:47:31) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I don't understand why the concern about the jetstream, so I can't comment on it. That is simply not something that involves safety in any way. As to the anxiety, the problem comes because flying is not 100% safe. Few if any things are 100% safe, but when dealing routinely with other things that are not 100% safe, there is some illusion of being able to control the situation so as to be sure of the outcome. So when you turn control over to someone else, the issue of less than 100% safety surfaces whereas it does not surface when you have the steering wheel in your hand when driving. You will be as safe (or safer, depending on how much you drive when at home) on the day of your flight than if you stayed home and did your daily routine, that based on the knowledge that five to ten miles of driving (what one does routinely) is equal to taking a flight. If this anxiety keeps bothering you, consider two possibilities. One, if you meet the captain, the control issue will change because you will gain confidence about the situation due to the personal contact with the captain. Two, if you sign up for Rapid Relief you can view it instantly (or download it and take it with you on an iPod, iPhone, or laptop) and get huge relief. If you sign up for Rapid Relief call me at 800 332-7359 when you get to video clip 9. That is about 90 minutes into the program. I want to make sure your practice of the Strengthening Exercise is being done just right. Details matter. (That is the exercise that links each moment of flight to the memory of an experience the amygdala regards as emotionally safe; when that is done, it stops reacting to produce fear when flying.) After that, I'll also want to speak with you when you arrive at the airport for the flight to make sure we control the anticipatory anxiety.
RAGeneral		#2	[-]
Posts: 5 (10/30/09 07:12:57) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for the quick reply! My concern about the jet stream is if that means the flight will be turbulent the whole time. The stream is over the whole east coast, and we are going against it (well it is hitting from the side) I will look at getting Rapid Relief.
Capn Steve		#3	[-]
Posts: 640 (10/31/09 17:08:33) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hi RA -- The jetstream is a fast-moving "river" of air that occurs -- usually -- between 20,000 feet and 40,000 feet altitude. It -- usually -- involves wind speeds of 100 to 200 knots. (115 to 230 mph) Actually, there are normally several of them working around the globe at any given time. See the website www.nws.noaa.gov for charts that predict where the jetstream (s) will be at any given time. It may -- or may not -- involve turbulence. Often, the transition into and out of the jetstream vicinity involves turbulence. On the other hand -- sometimes the transition across the jetstream can be perfectly smooth. I recall a situation -- many years ago -- when I was flying directly into the jetstream. It was 200 knots, and our true airspeed was about 450 knots. So -- our groundspeed was about 250 knots. Pretty slow. And yet -- the ride was completely smooth. Not even a ripple. There is no truly reliable method of predicting how your ride will be. It might be bumpy. It might be smooth. And -- the thing to remember about turb is -- it is not dangerous. Annoying, to be sure -- but not a hazard. Cheers. Steve
Capt Tom Bunn MSW LCSW		#4	[-]
Posts: 2748 (11/01/09 10:59:43) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Try to correct a misconception. You say the jetstream is "hitting" the plane. No. If you are in a boat going upstream, downstream, or crossstream, the current is not "hitting" the boat. The boat is floating in the stream, and because it has power, navigating in one direction or another as it floats. The same is true of the plane. It is in a river of air and moves with the flow, plus is powered to move through the water. If you were on a ferry crossing a river, obviously the water is flowing downstream. But that means nothing other than the person steering has to angle slightly upstream in order to go directly across. If aimed directly across, it would miss the landing spot on the other side due to the current, but the current doesn't mean turbulent water. Nor does it mean turbulence air. Turbulence associated with the jetstream is only on the edge of the jetstream where fast-moving jetstream air is scrubbing against slower non-jetstream air. Does that help you understand there is no "hitting"?
RAGeneral		#5	[-]
Posts: 7 (11/12/09 05:33:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks for your replies Captain Tom. They helped a lot. The trip is over now (we had a great time!) and I wanted to give an update. Obviously, as anyone reading this can tell I was very nervous because of the turbulence forecast, and because I don't like to fly. We almost cancelled the trip, since I even got my wife nervous.. but we went through with it. When I got on the plane to go, I still had a lot of anxiety. I checked the forecast before getting on, and saw it still called for turbulence (red and yellow on the map) at cruise.. I asked if I could meet the pilot, and they said yes (I flew Air Transat and the crew were great). I asked the Captain about the forecast, and he said it would be smooth, and it was great air. And ehe again explained that ven if we had turbulence, the plane can handle way more than mother nature would give. This helped ease my fears, but I figured he might have been sugar coating. Sure enough, it was a great flight. There was some light (very light) chop, but the seat belt sign didn't come on until landing time, and even that was smooth. However I spent the 4 hrs on edge, sure we would hit Clear Air Turbulence. When we landed, I felt relieved and silly. I had lost a week, where instead of looking foreward to a holiday I was worrying. And it was for nothing. Over the week (which was great) I didnt worry. I even thought I was over my fear. Hahaha. Yeah right. On the morning of my flight home, I was watching the news and saw Hurricane Ida was near us. It wasn't over us, but we were within the range. Again, my thoughts imagined a horrible flight. Of course rationally I knew it was ok, but I was just as anxious as the trip over. Being at an all inclusive, I indulged in some liquid courage, which only made it worse. We had a long 3 hrs at the airport, and the plane arrived from Montreal to pick us up 45min early... which made me think it was carried by fast winds, which increased my nerves. Unfortunately, we boarded the plane through the back, so I couldnt speak to the pilot. I sat there, like a baby, gripping the chair as we took off. Sure enough, we did have a lot of chop for the first hr. It didn't warrent the seat belt sign, but it made me anxious. Then we did hit enough turbulence for them to put the sign on, and halt lunch service. But, it was short lived, because after the sign was on we had clear air for 15min. Then the sign came off, and we had a smooth 2 hr ride home. So again, my worries were for nothing. I am not planning on flying for awhile, but I think I will do the course now, while I am not super anxious. I want to get a grip on this now. I am 35yrs old, and have a 1 yr old son, and I do not want to pass on the fear. The flights were both smooth, yet I worried before, and while on board. I couldn't watch the movie, read, eat, or even converse for long. I actually like flying, but hate the fear.
Capt Tom Bunn MSW LCSW		#6	[-]
Posts: 2755 (11/12/09 08:00:04) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The fear comes from two things. 1. You are trying to keep from feeling fear by trying to keep the flight out of your awareness. That will not work. When there is turbulence, it intrudes. You can't pretend you are not on a plane, and being on a plane - because only absolute safety is safety (though it doesn't really exist other than in fantasy) - causes you to think the plane could crash. Yes, maybe any plane "could" crash, but that only happens in one out of about eight million flights. Still, wondering if yours is going to be that one, causes trouble. That is why this doesn't work, and the only way to get relief is to train you mind to NOT react with fear when these thoughts come to mind. That means Rapid Relief or Complete Relief. They strengthen you emotionally. There is no other solution. 2. When you repeatedly expect and imagine an awful flight, you sooner or later memorize that. Once it is memorized, it can just pop into your mind, even in a dream. Remember, you have to MAKE imagination happen. You don't have to make something in your memory system come to mind. It just does. And because of that difference between imagination and something real, when imagination is memorized, it seems real when it comes to mind.

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Note from Capt. Tom

I know everyone worries about weather, but pilots really do not worry about it. We simply - instead of worrying about it - completely prepare for it. Before going to the plane, we review the weather at the destination. If it is not 100% sure to be within legal limits when we arrive at the destination, we must specify an alternate airport in our planning documents, and load on plenty of fuel for going to the destination airport, and then if need be, diverting to the alternate airport.

The legal limits are conservative. Even when weather is slightly outside the legal limits, any airline pilot could still land safely. You can rely on the captain never to land when the weather is not legal, and legality limits are reached prior to safety limits.

If you are still anxious, call me and we can talk it over. I'm at 877 332-7359 from 10 AM until 7 PM Eastern time.

For effective help, even if you are flying in a day or two, sign up now at www.fearofflying.com/fasttrack and call me when you finish Clip 9 so I can make sure you are all set.

Using Weather Information

If you enter your ZIP Code or City at the top of the weather presentation, it will give you weather for your area. Or, you can enter your destination ZIP Code or City.

Click on the "LOCAL RADAR" button to see whether or not there are thunder-
storms. Keep in mind, however, that we can either fly above the storms when cruising or fly through gaps between storms. During landing, we cannot fly above them, but fly through gaps, or through the area of the storms where the turbulence is least.

Turbulence, though it may cause anxiety, does not mean anything is wrong. Turbulence does not mean danger. The plane can handle far more turbulence than Mother Nature can dish out.

Though flying in turbulence is safe, it doesn't feel safe. And here is where the SOAR programs come in. We can help you feel as safe when you fly as you actually are.

You can see these programs at www.fearofflying.com/store.

For questions on aviation or the psychology of aerophobia, click here to e-mail Capt. Tom Bunn, MSW, LCSW.

To contact the SOAR business office (media contacts, brochures, replacement tapes, billing, shipping), click here to e-mail Lisa Hauptner, MS.