I hate airplanes, and I have a fear of flying. Yes, I’m that nervous girl that makes you think she’s a first-timer, when in actuality she has ridden many different airplanes over the years. I’m the one you see with legs bouncing up and down, blinking irregularly and holding a brown paper bag. That’s me.
 I take deep breaths, buy myself a rather large bag of peppermints and grip my dad’s hand tightly. But occasionally, for some reason that I’ll never understand, I find myself alone on a plane, crushed by claustrophobia and the two strangers sitting next to me.
I’ve been made fun of for my fear, but I’m still afraid. I have missed a vacation or two because I wasn’t willing to fly, but I still take vacations. It might not make sense that I travel via airplane when I’m scared like this, but it’s completely sensible to me.
My fear of airplanes is fairly recent. It all started a couple years ago when I flew to Walt Disney World with my family. I was seated in the very front row in the window seat. I became terrified as I noticed the flight attendant struggling to get the cabin door closed and locked, sporting a very puzzled look on her face. Um, can I get out of the plane now, please?
Next was a trip to San Antonio, my first time flying by myself. I was seated between a very kind, rather large man and a skinny woman who tried to talk my ear off with pleasant conversation. Typical.
Oh, the New York trip with my parents this year is by far the best story. We flew from Memphis to Atlanta, but our flight was late. This caused the three of us to miss our flight from Atlanta to New York City, prompting a random flight to Asheville, N.C.
The Asheville airport is tiny and cute. The kind of airport that has, I believe, one bathroom and only a handful of places to eat.
It’s boarding time already? As I hand the lady at the desk my boarding pass, I see the plane. It’s tiny. I can pick out the individual bolts, and I can tell you what part of it is newer than the others. And I can tell you exactly how many people it fits, using my two hands and feet.
I take my seat. The fear sets in. What if the flight attendant doesn’t get the door closed all the way? What if the stranger I’m sitting next to decides to lean all into my space? What if we hit a storm, and there’s all kinds of turbulence? What if the pilot falls asleep?
Zlatko Glusica, a Serbian pilot flying an Air India Boeing 737, fell asleep and became “disoriented” when the plane began its descent near Mangalore this past May. The jet crashed, killing 158, and leaving eight survivors. The panel in India found Glusica did not follow many standard operating procedures when landing the plane.
Apparently, data recovered at the crash site caught the sound of his “heavy nasal snoring and breathing.”
The airplane overshot the runway, landed in a gorge and burst into flames. It was the worst crash in India since 1996.
Due to this recent report, my fear isn’t disappearing anytime soon. My question is: where was the co-pilot? Was he asleep too?
I mean, I already worry about things like engine failure, tires bursting on the landing or a wing breaking … and now I have to worry about the pilots.
And next time you decide to travel via airplane to (insert awesome vacation spot here), make sure you know the flight risks before one of them crashes the plane.
Becca Horton is a freshman majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected].