Supposed to fly from NYC to San Fran tomorrow AM -- I'm really really scared.

Mawiyah · 12-21-2003, 09:53 PM

So I think the title of this thread is pretty self explanatory. I'm just curious as to any thoughts people might have. I've considered cancelling my trip -- I'd be going to spend the holidays with my family. My return ticket is for Saturday the 28th. Am I being ridiculous? What would you do in my position?

Please note, I do not want to turn this into a political or religious discussion. It is simply a duscussion about me being terrified to get on this plane tomorrow. I apologize in advance if this post goes against the forum rules (I've read them carefully and don't think it does, but...). To the moderators, please feel free to delete the post if it does.

Jean Luc · 12-21-2003, 10:07 PM

It'll be alright. In the past year, I have flown commercial allover Turkey, and then from Turkey to San francisco (we just moved from there). I understand being nervous, it's a part of life, but you have to realize that the chances of anything happening are just as low as you winning the lottery.
The anticipation always sucks. once you get on that plane you'll be fine. Enjoy your trip!!
JL

Alf S · 12-21-2003, 10:19 PM

If you let the fear eat you up like that, then you're letting "them" win.

Be strong and get on the plane and HAVE A FUN HOLIDAY!!

Jason_Els · 12-21-2003, 10:19 PM

No, not ridiculous at all. Everyone has some anxiety about flying these days and all the security procedures and reminders of 9/11 (particularly in NYC) only serve to heighten the feeling. It's normal to be anxious about it.

If it's any consolation browse through the stories about passengers doing crazy things since 9/11 and look at what happened to them. Passengers won't stand for anything to happen on a plane any longer. Anyone threatening a flight will be in serious trouble. Keep in mind also that bi-coastal flights are the ones air marshals are on. They are armed and anonymous.

And hey, you'll be in with a plane full of New Yorkers. Anyone tries anything and even the singing nuns will go El Kabong.

Philip_G · 12-21-2003, 11:12 PM

You didn't really specify WHY you're afraid, is it just plain fear of flying? or is it more fear of an act of terror? Really either way, you should be afraid of the drive to the airport around NYC more than the flight

second the armed air marshall (2 of them, actually) on the flight. They're out and about a lot more than you think. Though I don't know how anonymous they are.

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Mawiyah · 12-22-2003, 12:02 AM

phillip_g, it's the terrorists i'm scared of... i was scared before they raised the alert up to orange; then when they raised it to orange, i was just overcome with fear.

anyway,thanks everyone -- you've definitely made me feel better. i didn't know about the air marshals -- that's probably the most comforting.

happy holidays...

Jeff Adkins · 12-22-2003, 12:21 AM

I've flown hundreds of times and I can say that I understand you're fear but you have to take into consideration the number of flights that have taken off and landed in this country since 9/11. I don't have the stats, but it's gotta be hundreds of thousands. Think of the hundreds of thousands of flights that have been fine.

OT, the only time I was the slightest bit frightened flying recently was on Aeroflot from Moscow to Prague. I was leery of Aeroflot after their horrible safety record in the past. The flight was just like any flight I've flown anywhere else, and my fear was really just a fear of the unknown.

Jeff

Joseph DeMartino · 12-22-2003, 01:50 AM

Mawiyah:

Hope you don't let the fear stop you - that's kinda the point of terrorism, to make us afraid to live our lives. No life can ever be lived entirely free from danger - and as some have already said statistically you're more likely to get into trouble in the car on the way to the airport.

You shouldn't ignore the elevated threat warnings, but you also shouldn't invest them with more meaning than they have.

The government is in a no-win situation. They pick up an increase in the amount of "chatter" and some vague indications - from reliable sources - that somebody may be planning to do something. There's nothing more specific because these groups are very hard to penetrate, and we only pick up info from people on the margins who aren't given specifics.

What does the government do? If it sits on the information, tells no one, and then something happens, it will rightly be condemned once it is learned that there were these vague warnings ahead of time. If it tries to alert only law enforcement and security people - well, that won't work. Somebody is going to leak the story to the press, and then the government is accused of trying to conceal a threat and thwart the peoples' right to know. If it announces a possible threat and raises the level from yellow to orange it is accused of needlessly panicking the citizens and it causes folks like you anxiety.

But consider this:

An inevitable consequence of going two years without a repeat of 9/11 is that people become complacent. Security people fall into routines, ordinary citizens lose the hyper-alert edge they had at this time in 2001 and become preoccupied with their own small doings and problems.

When there is increased chatter and a chance that someone may be close to doing something our best chance of thwarting a terrorist action is for law enforcement and private security to be warned (and that is mostly who these level changes are directed at, because police departments and corporate security department have different scheduling, manpower and other procedures depending on the threat level.) This warning has to be public, and that also has the effect of letting citizens know that yes, they should expect even longer delays at the airport and yes, that on this trip, unlike the one last week, they might want to be extra aware of their surroundings, their fellow passengers, etc. It was thanks to such heightened awareness that passengers and crew were able to thwart the would-be shoe bomber on that flight from Paris to the U.S. Pre 9/11 people may not even have noticed him doing anything strange, and if they had they might not have recognized it for the danger it was before it was too late.

If anything you're probably a bit safer in the air now than you would have been yesterday.

I hope you go, enjoy your trip, and return home safely.

And I hope we all have a safe and happy holiday season, and a safe and happy 2004.

Regards,

Joe

Philip_G · 12-22-2003, 03:47 AM

Quote:

OT, the only time I was the slightest bit frightened flying recently was on Aeroflot from Moscow to Prague. I was leery of Aeroflot after their horrible safety record in the past. The flight was just like any flight I've flown anywhere else, and my fear was really just a fear of the unknown.

*I* wouldn't even fly aeroflot