What’s up at 36,000 Feet?
Imagine being able to enjoy the flight without fear, and rather spend your flight looking forward to your vacation, or reminiscing about the good times en-route home?
Media broadcasts about plane crashes fuel the common fear of flying. It is no wonder that this fear is much more common than you think. Like sheep, 
herds of passenger’s cram into a 90,000-pound aluminum tube and are then sent shuddering up 6 miles into the air at 600 miles an hour, in amongst an orchestra of foreign noises. It is no question that fear is one primary emotion involved during a flight and that if you experience mild or severe anxiety on your flight you are certainly not alone. However, whether you are a frequent traveler or not, experiencing anxiety during travel is actually an avoidable nuisance!
Below I help you understand some of the foreign engine sounds and dings of communication between captain and crew, to help alleviate your fears.
My father was the Manager of Claims for a major Canadian airline so I grew up learning very intriguing stories behind the scenes of the airline industry. One message was always loud and clear from my father:
“You are far more safe up at 36,000 feet in an airplane than most of your day to day tasks”
This created a lifelong curiosity about the process behind flight travel, so much, that at one point before university, I wanted to work in Air Traffic Control (though I quickly learned by taking the exam that my brain is not naturally mathematic and was not a good idea!!). I have researched and investigated, to no end, how safe we actually are up at 36,000 feet.
The statistics are indeed true you are highly unlikely to ever be involved in a plane crash or major incident. The graph, shown to the left is an infographic from Savage, 2013, and depicted in this Pop Sci. article.
No other form of transportation is as monitored, scrutinized and investigated as commercial aviation. In fact, the last stat I read was 1 in 7 million chances was the death risk per flight. And with modern times, air travel is continually becoming safer and safer.
With the number of flights I have been on in my lifetime, I have certainly experienced some wicked flights, broken equipment, a cracked windshield, emergency landings, touch-and go-missed-approach landings. In fact, this past February I was on a Southwest Airlines flight en-route home from a cruise out of Florida landing in Buffalo in 100+km/hr wind gusts. After counting my blessings, I gave huge kudos to the captain and crew, we had the “brace for landing” announcement (that is usually not a good sign). With each incident I have experienced, I have been dumbfounded by the organization of the captains and crew, ultimate with my safety as their major priority.
Below are some interesting facts about the process behind flying that hopefully ease some or any of your worries and allow more time for the enjoyment of your vacation.
Trigger #1 Foreign Plane Noises
One common trigger to set your traveling nerves on fire is the myriad of foreign noises that airplanes generate. Here are a couple of interesting articles and videos:
Here are simple explanations of some common strange noises and sensations that take place on a plane:
- Once the door closes, the lights flicker. This is likely the pilot switching from the airport to the aircraft system
- High pitch Barking Dog sound (also sounds like a saw) on twin-engine Airbuses is a device called a PTU (Power Transfer Unit), essentially a hydraulic system.
- Whirring noise before take-off is the pilot making the wings bigger with flaps
- I have noticed in Airbusses, especially along the runway, the wings shake and rattle and sound like they are going to come off, fret not, that is normal there is little shock absorption for tarmac.
- Bumpy wheels are the tar strips on the runway, there is not much shock absorption in an airplane.
- After takeoff, you will hear a huge “clunk” of the landing gear and the plane gets a lot quieter. Likewise, before landing you will hear a similar “clunk” and then the sound of the air resistance, just like when sunroof in a car. This is simply the landing gear. The pilot cannot approach the landing without the lights coming on telling him/her that they are fully engaged.
- After takeoff and before 10,000 feet the engine often quiets and slows down dramatically almost sounding like they are stopping then they spin back up. The pilots often cutting back the engine thrust to reduce noise when the airplane is very low after takeoff as high engine thrust is needed to get the plane off the ground but once airborne and low so as not to disturb nearby residences the power cut back enough to maintain a climb.
Trigger #2 Turbulence
Bouncing about up at 36,000 ft is a common part of air flight and certainly a common source of pulsing heartbeats and sweaty palms on your flight. Fear not, air turbulence poses absolutely no threat to the airplane, and your only real threat is your hot coffee spilling. Airplanes are built with this exact purpose of withstanding much more turbulence that you will EVER experience. It is best you simply buckle up sit back, relax and enjoy the bumpy ride. Here is an in-depth explanation of turbulence. https://fearofflyingschool.com/airplane-turbulence
One final tip to decrease your nerves on your flight: Give yourself one “Anchor Thought”. (Mel Robbins in this video give some insightful tactics to relieve end the fear of flying). An anchor thought is ONE THING you are looking forward to at your destination. Remember: each crackle, whip, whine, ding, and rattle is getting you to your destination.
Finally, this is also another great article out there with some interesting and soothing facts about air travel.
I hope this article has enabled you to sit back and enjoy the flight a bit more. Rest assured you are perfectly safe and in good hands when traveling our worldly skies.
