Travel experts speak on anxiety after D.C. plane crash
(CBS DETROIT) - It's been nearly 16 years since the last fatal commercial airliner crash in the United States, and by almost every metric, traveling by plane is the safest mode of transportation. But many flyers still have anxiety, especially after the latest crash.
"Of course, people who already have a fear of flying are very nervous, but now I'm starting to see people who didn't have a fear of flying suddenly have a fear of flying," said Brian Morris, owner and co-creator of Flight Deck Fear of Flying Flashcards.
As investigations into the cause of the crash over the Potomac are ongoing, aviation professionals and experts are emphasizing that air travel remains the safest mode of transportation. Even so, flight anxiety remains very common, with some studies showing that up to 40 percent of people feel at least a little fear of flying.
"Even though we know air travel is safer than crossing the street and these episodes are very very rare it does frighten us, and we do identify with the people who took a simple flight and had their lives disrupted or their lives ended by something like this," said Dr. Gerald Shiener, a professor of psychiatry at Wayne State University.
According to research by Harvard University, your odds of being in a fatal accident during a flight is one in 11 million, but Shiener says for many people, it's hard to think about those numbers pragmatically instead of feeling emotions, meaning it's important to know how to deal with your anxiety.
"Verbalizing it and talking about it with one other person and admitting that you might be uncomfortable is the first step you have to take to reducing anxiety," he said.
Morris used to have a crippling fear of flying and has since created a company educating people on how to get over that fear. He says while flying might give you anxiety, you still have to live your life.
"People who really do have a fear of flying should focus on the positive opportunities of air travel, getting to places you wouldn't normally be able to get in a short period of time and the things you're going to see and do when you get there and I think of you can focus on that rather than focusing on what might be an unrealistic danger I think you're going to have a better time."
And airline travel is getting safer. Another study shows that flying is about twice as safe now as it was just a decade ago.