“Boarded the 249 yesterday trembling with fear, disembarked serene with a diagram of aerodynamics drawn by pilot Del who single-handedly cured 80 per cent of my fear of flying.
Potentially life-changing. Thank you (and Kai and Derek on-board).”
She explained just how far the pilot went to ease her fears.
“That’s a cross section of a plane showing where the lift comes from to stay airborne. He was also blowing on a piece of paper to show how it lifts up not down.
“I learned a dreamliner can glide for three hours with no engines, which is why at no point during our Rio flight were we more than three hours from a runway. Nuts! Also learned that the turbulence I hate off the Brazil coast is because it’s two Jetstreams meeting at the equator!
“He was incredible. Invited me into the flight deck once we landed to meet the other pilots and show me what they see too. Amazing.”
When a commenter suggested she do a fear of flying course to overcome her terror, she swiftly declined, saying her mother did the course but it “made her worse”.
“Mum said the course just gave her new things to be scared of that she’d never thought of before. But Del was amazing showing me how we scientifically can’t just fall from the sky. It helped!”
She said that the crew are usually really good at comforting her during flights.
She said South America was her “nightmare route” due to a horrifying flight experience previously when nobody explained what was going on. This time was very different and she said the team she had on her recent flight was by far the best.
“Taking the time to explain helped so much,” she added.
“Absolutely world class team yesterday.”
Many commenters praised the pilot for going that step further to make Julia feel more at ease. While others shared their stories of feeling scared in the skies, some were also helped by the pilots and crew.
