What do you do when you see footage of plane crashes?

[Silverwing]

I was going through an online fear of flying course and they hosted a number of their videos on youtube. As I was progressing through there were a number of videos that flashed up depicting jet liner crashes. Needless to say this freaked me out and I immediately ceased going through the videos. :shakehead

Also, I was on the bbc news site and the story about the Indonesian flight that crashed recently came up.

I don't want to become an internet-phobe. How do you guys handle it?

[Getb0rn]

Hiya Silverwing!

I don't know about everyone else but I just avoid things like that. I usually just proof read everything flying related before I jump into really reading it.

Video wise, I just steer clear. Because I am such a curious person I would start watching them and keep on watching them and totally freak myself out even more.

I just guess it's up to you, the choice is always there watch them or not.

If you do watch them make sure you arm yourself with lots of facts, like flight stats and remind yourself what your watching is a 'freak accident' and is very very very very very very unlikey to happen to you.

I hope I helped...

[MathFox]

Yes, avoid watching :eek: accident :cry: videos, watch the ones with smooth :cool: flights instead!
You should give attention proportional to accident rates: that computes to 200 hours of smooth flight video per second of crash video. Impractical you say? Hey, those are the statistics... We are talking about one accident in 740.000 hours of flying for US airlines. (83 years of non-stop flying).

Don't freak out when you hear about an plane incident, they are so rare that they will make the news. Compare that to car accidents, there are so many of those that you hardly hear of them. Over 40.000 die in road accidents yearly in the USA, a fatal car accident is hardly interesting enough for the local newspaper.

[Passenger Mark]

I don't indiscriminately watch them.

I will watch ones in which I am following an investigation. Why??? Several reasons, with the most important being the research and improvements made to prevent a similar accident.

Ever since man began flying, there have been accidents. Just like there has been accidents with anything man does. The only difference is that with each aviation accident, the experts comb over all the evidence to make sure it never happens again.

Sadly that is not the case with automobiles. Yes... they make improvements, but such improvements are slow in coming. Back in the 80s U.S. Automakers installed the seatbelt in the door. This was to make it easier to buckle up when entering the car. Unfortunately there were many accidents wherein the door came open, and due to a fault, the seatbelt came off and ejected the occupant. This flaw was realized immediately, but due to the cost of retrofitting, the change was very slow to come... continuing to sell new cars with the same system.

When a particular model of aircraft is involved in a accident, many times that model is grounded... fleet-wide! The experts review all material that they can, and once the cause is determined, retrofits are made. Additionally new aircraft are engineered to prevent similar accidents.

So... I watch these videos and/or documentaries to educate myself on what happened, why, and what has been done to prevent similar accidents. I read a lot of NTSB reports as well.

This also helps me to answers member's questions when they ask "What happened with Global Air Flight 123" etc.

When dealing with my own version of The Fear of Flying... I did not watch these videos. And I suggest that until you have chained the monster... that you don't either.

[AZ_to_AU]

I have to agree with Passenger Mark, if you are like most of us and tend to let the monster loose every now and then, do NOT watch those videos. It only adds fuel to the fire and quite honestly, can we afford more fuel? :rolleyes:

I would suggest watching videos posted by us or if you're on youtube, read the comments first if the title doesn't give you a clear description.

StPeteMark has a heap of flight videos HERE (http://www.takingflight.us/forums/showthread.php?t=3990) Have a look at these. I also have a few myself in my own Flight Report (http://www.takingflight.us/forums/showthread.php?t=8193)

[Barb-SAN]

I was going through an online fear of flying course and they hosted a number of their videos on youtube. As I was progressing through there were a number of videos that flashed up depicting jet liner crashes. Needless to say this freaked me out and I immediately ceased going through the videos. :shakehead

Also, I was on the bbc news site and the story about the Indonesian flight that crashed recently came up.

I don't want to become an internet-phobe. How do you guys handle it?
I make a conscious decision to not watch the crash videos, but I do browse through the videos on YouTube. You can pick and choose what to watch, just like you chose what movies you watch on TV or at the theater.

If I absolutely MUST find out details about a crash, I will read them on the Internet rather than watching a TV news report. The TV coverage always seems more dramatic to me, as you've got the emotion portrayed by the newsman/woman to absorb as well as the factual details. They also have their tricks to keep you viewing (and watching the advertising), e.g. showing a teaser, and then saying to tune it at 11PM for the rest of the story. So you can ruminate about it for a few hours, wondering what they are going to tell you later.:rolleyes:

I had been "grounded" already for 10 years when 9/11 happened, and I did watch a LOT of that TV coverage as it was unfolding. Those images burned into my brain were one more thing to overcome later when I was working with a therapist to get "ungrounded". Now my feeling is that it's much easier to not let those images get into your brain in the first place than to remove them later.

So...if your goal is to convince yourself flying is safe, do as others have already suggested. Watch videos that reinforce that. :cool:

Remember that the media will focus on the rare, dramatic exceptions to routine flights, to attract viewers and sell newspapers. That includes stories of how much hassle it is to fly, grumpy flight attendents, lost luggage, etc. If you focus on that view, you will be more likely to notice it (and look for it) when you fly. :(

Focusing on what goes right with your trip, and being pleasant to all the airline staff (and your fellow passengers), will be much more likely to give you a positive flying experience. :thumbsup:

[Silverwing]

The 9/11 stuff really kills me as my Birthday is 9/11.
Thanks for the advise guys. I am doing my best to avoid all videos/media coverage.

[bellevueace]

I watched a series a while ago about air crash investigators. Knowing the real facts behind these accidents show how the aircraft industry make big strides forward in air safety, a lot of these accidents highlighted really were million to one chances after investigation the chance of these events happening again are even greater. Through the work of air crash investigators flying is becoming safer and safer. When i hear about an accident and lets be honest they are rare considering the number of worldwide flights daily i tell myself thats another failure that wont be happening again. When you drive down the motorway and pass a car crash scene i bet theres not a second thought and theres far more crashes on the road that there ever will be in the air.