Come to the dark side.......

So, I am thinking of flying to Athens for the weekend in 2 week's time.
I am inviting you to join me in my voyage to the dark, very anxious part of my soul....

It starts with an email to my travel agent - "Find me those flights, please".
Minutes after, she sends me a potential itinerary.
Aegean Airways...hmmm....who are they and can I trust them, I ask myself....I have 2 options, but they are the only ones with a convenient schedule...it's a 2 hour flight, so maybe I can manage flying an (what I thought is) esoteric airline...
I decided to Google them. Nice website...read their history, not enough experience for me....but, a member of Star Alliance, I am thinking they would not consent to anyt airline that's not adhering to safety protocols, so I feel a little better....
"At the risk of you not wanting to work with me anymore....Let me know what aircraft is used for this flight" I tell her. (I also want the name, address and phone number of the pilot and co pilot, but perhaps that's too much...)
"It's an Airbus A320-100/200" (if she could not work with me, she wouldnt I am sure...but she is my cousin and my travel agent so she needs to give me those answers or I wont talk to her in family gatherings..).
Personally, I feel less safe in AIrbus air crafts. I prefer Boeing. Ok, so what's to do, they are the only airline that I can fly with. Next step - Google the aircraft...hmmm....small/medium size...one aisle...not loving it...
Moving on..what is the accident record for this aircraft...

"For the entire A320 family there have been 17 Hull-loss Accidents with a total of 795 fatalities as of July 2010.^[60][61]  Other occurrences for the A320 include 33 non-fatal incidents such as engine failure, APU fire, runway excursion, and minor collision near gate.^[62] There have been 50 incidents of glass cockpit blackout.^[63][64][65] There have also been seven incidents of nose gear malfunction, including JetBlue Airways Flight 292."


Oh god....17, 33, 50....I do want to arrive to Athens safely....Ok, so I will Google Aegean Airliines Accident record. WIkipedia says - 1 incident in March 2010, flight returned to Athens because of engine malfunction....hmmmm....
Statistically though, it's almost nothing - 1 incident that I see since 2003 (where the records of the site start), they fly 6 million passengers per year..Ok, I can try to manage this logically....


Anyone going through this same process or is it me alone out there.....


Fly safe.

Delta flight 4951 9/29

Ok....so some of our worst fears on crashing upon landing...caught on tape..or should I say "mobile phone"...hey, wait...wasn't his cell phone supposed to be closed??!!! I promise you, if i was the one sitting next to him, I probably would have jumped his phone and confiscated it...god knows if his open cell phone intercepted the airplane systems and created a mal function with the landing gear....(probably not...).

Regardless...this short video grants us an inside look to what we fear most. Luckily, it ended well, this time.

Let us all fly safe.

My window syndrome

As a fearful flier, I usualy like to have direct access to the window. I need to feel that I control SOMETHING when I am up there, 35,000 feet above ground.

In cases of turbulence, I just look ot the window. If the skies are blue and everything below "looks normal" to me..I am able to calm myself down. If I see that instead of being above the clouds the plane is IN a cloud or fog, then its time to get stressed...

The problem begins during those night international flights, when for you its night time, but outside its mid-day in that time zone. 99.9% of the passangers are asleep and there is NOTHING more important to the cabin crew then to make sure we stay asleep. They are really zelous about that (that way passangers are less annoying...)

So, it's dark in the cabin and suddenly there's serious turbulence. My instinct, as I said, is to immidiately look out the window. The shutter is closed, so, I open it just abit - 2 inches, so I can see what's out there and not bother everyone too much...Not a second goes by and an angry stewardess jumps on me -Miss! Please close the shutter immidiately!!
Since I am stressed, I dont usally handle this attack too well...and I usualy snap right back at her/him..... "I will NOT close the shutter, as I am anxious and keeping it slightly open helps me cope!!!!" I tell her. The stewardess is usually shocked that I dont obey her orders, and my tone sends her right out on her way. If she still insists, I still keepit open but I usualy also write a complaint letter to the airline and complain about the lack of empathy to those who suffer from fear of flights.

Exception - On international flights, I prefer to sit on an isle seat, helps me that I know I can get up any moment and not feel couped up. Gotta choose my battles...

Safe flight.