What is the worst thing about flying?

Flight-Delayed.co.uk asked the public what they thought the scariest or worst thing about air travel was.  Here are their answers, with a detailed explanation on why they would consider these items as the worst part of air travel.

What do people think is the worst thing about flying?

The first five and last five minutes of a flight

At these key points of flying, most passengers feel the fear. There is a rational explanation as to why this is the case. It is at these times that an aircraft might experience the most turbulence or when the altitude is at its lowest. It is also the time when there are the least number of back up options in case something were to go wrong. The first five and last five minutes of a flight could well be the scariest.

The little things that make a big difference: 

What was that? A bird? An engine failure? Both, in fact, rank highly on the list of scariest things about air travel. A bird inadvertently crashing in the engine to causing an engine failure is something that keeps passengers awake the night before travelling.

There is no hard shoulder:

When you are travelling up the motorway at great speed and light flashes are signalling to you to stop, a quick flick of the indicators and you are safely on the hard shoulder assessing the situation. Unfortunately, where air travel is concerned, it is not that simple. If lights start flashing or engines fail, there is nowhere to land to assess. This is a particularly terrifying thought. Falling through the sky like a boulder dropped from space is one of the scariest things about flying.

Flight delays and cancellations: 

The ultimate thing that gets passengers nervous, other than an accident, is a flight delay or cancellation. Millions of minutes each year are lost due to flight delays and cancellations and the thought of a flight delay happening, scares millions of passengers. Fortunately, as scary as the thought of being delayed by three or more hours is, there is a silver lining. You can claim compensation for delays of 3 or more hours and for flight cancellations. Let Flight-Delayed.co.uk allay your fears today.

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Size of the aeroplane's wings:

You have got yourself the window seat and you are getting comfortable. Then your eyes are cast outside and you see you are sitting next to the wing. “Does that wing look big enough to you? Or is it going to fall off?”

A concern for air passengers is the planes themselves and in particular the size of the aircraft's wings and if they will stay attached. Often, considering the size of the machines that take us through the sky, the wing span seems insignificant. We can rest assured that the size of the wings are as they should be. I mean, flying itself is a scary prospect so best not to dwell on the measurements. Flying through the sky in a metal tube is enough to put the heebie-jeebies up anyone.

Going deaf: 

When the cabin pressure changes, babies and adults wince, but have you ever thought what it might be like to enter the plane being fully able to hear and then leaving it deaf as a post? Well, that is a fear of many passengers we help here and there's not a lot to we can do to offer reassurance on that one, other than stating that it is unlikely to happen.

Lack of fuel:

Ranking high is the thought of the aircraft that you are travelling on running out of fuel. Of course, this is highly unlikely to happen but it does not mean we should not be scared of it. Just because the chances of being struck by lightning are low doesn't mean it won’t happen. You could run out of fuel and end up recreating Lost. Or at the bottom of the ocean.

These answers were provided by members of Quora and the staff at Flight-Delayed.co.uk. Feel free to follow the link and tell us what you think is the scariest thing about air travel.

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