(WASHINGTON) — After two deadly plane crashes in the past week — one in Washington, D.C., killing 67, and another in Philadelphia, killing 7 and injuring 19 — it wouldn’t be unusual if travelers reported heightened apprehension toward air travel, according to experts.
“Given the fact that there were two incidents that were pretty large in the past seven days, I would say people that are on the fence about whether or not to book that vacation are probably hesitant to do that,” said psychotherapist and licensed aviator Michaela Renee Johnson.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, around 25 million adults in the U.S. have a fear of flying, also known as aerophobia. It’s not abnormal to be hesitant about airline travel after a traumatic aviation incident, especially when there are casualties involved, said aviation law expert Robert Clifford.
“People tend to immediately think, ‘Uh-oh, they all must be unsafe, and it must be a huge risk for me to fly’ — and they question whether or not they should get on the next flight they have scheduled,” Johnson told ABC News.
Media psychologist Don Grant told ABC News that the way these tragedies are portrayed in the media can trigger new cases of air travel anxiety, or even elevate existing worries.
“If you already have a fear of flying, then you see something like this, it’s like the monsters under the bed are actually real,” Grant said.
When there are life-threatening events, Johnson said the brain uses survival techniques, like the “fight or flight” response, to protect from impending danger. Even though the body might be responding correctly to the recent tragedies, Johnson said it isn’t taking into account the facts surrounding airline travel safety.
“Yes, our brain is doing what it’s supposed to be doing by assessing the risk, but it’s not really considering the fact that in perspective, it’s actually an incredibly safe way to travel,” Johnson told ABC News.
Despite the recent incidents, experts still argue that flying is the safest form of transportation.
In a 2024 study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, researchers found that the “death risk per boarding for worldwide air travelers was 1 in 13.7 million” in the 2018-2022 period. This reflects a steep increase in safety as compared to the previous half-century, following a pattern of the risk of fatalities dropping 50% per decade, according to the study.
The Department of Transportation estimated that 86.8 million passengers were moved by aircraft in August 2024.
But will those numbers persist after the recent crashes?
Johnson told ABC News that it depends: Those who travel frequently for business will still need access to commercial airlines, whereas those who only go on vacation every few years might consider other forms of transport.
Regardless of the statistics, Johnson said many feel a lack of control when stepping into an airplane, causing anxiety to heighten.
“We’re sitting in the back, we don’t know how to fly an airplane, we don’t know what’s happening up front, we don’t know what’s happening in the air around us,” Johnson said. “That can create a lot of discomfort for people. You have to talk yourself through the idea that the pilots also want to get home that night.”
For those struggling to book their next plane ticket, Johnson suggested the following tactics for combatting anxiety: journaling, avoiding flights in the winter or during hurricane seasons, and writing preemptive letters to loved ones (just in case).
But at the same time, Johnson urges others to remember this: “How much of your life are you willing to sacrifice for the fear that you may die?”
“When we think about fear as a motivating factor for a lot of things that we do in our lives, we have to really question how much of it is rational and how much of it is irrational,” Johnson said. “None of us is getting off the planet alive.”
Grant also provided a simple solution to alleviate aviation anxieties: “Put the phone down.”
He recommends reading the news from reliable sources — but not scrolling endlessly online, looking at countless stories on the topic. He also suggested looking into how planes work, reading about the training pilots are required to have or joining am aerophobia support group.
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