Do you fear flying because you think you might die? Do you feel safer driving to your destination rather than flying? Have you heard about all the ways you can die in a flight like your inside being sucked out from flushing the toilet, someone opening the door while at cruising altitude, lightning striking the plane can make it explode, and more things that can lead you to a horrible and gruesome death? Well, let’s see what myths we can debunk and separate the truth from the lies and get people to see the world one flight at a time.
Studies have shown that quite a few people suffer from some sort of fear of flying disorder. A lot of our fears come from myths and so called stories that people claim to have known someone who was killed in that manner. We all know people who can tell you stories and make them seem so believable no matter how ridiculous it may sound! Here is where I start by debunking the first myth of people saying it’s not physically or scientifically possible for an 80,000 lb airplane to fly, and it’s just a matter of time before it comes falling out of the sky. Well, thanks to Daniel Bernoulli who was a mathematician and physicist and his principle, he discovered in the 1700s, which states that the pressure in a fluid decreases as its velocity increases. Air which acts much like a fluid, and airplane wings which are designed so that the air above the wing flows faster than the air below the wing, which results in lower pressure above the wing, and higher pressure below the wing, which in turn leads to lift. So, in conclusion, it is scientifically proven why it is not impossible for airplanes to fly and why it will not just fall from the sky. Another myth is one stated that people on a flight would go crazy or threaten to open the cabin door at high altitude, and the plane will be torn to pieces, or everyone will suffocate and die. This is not humanly possible unless you have someone who beyond any strength ever measured by a human being because at 30,000 ft in the air, the pressure outside is very low, and the pressure inside the cabin is very high. That is why they pressurize the cabin to stop it from crushing, and since the doors open to the inside, it is sealed shut. Also, like vehicles with child locks, the aircraft is armed with a locking mechanism on the doors, and they can only be opened when the aircraft has landed, and pressure has equalized on both inside and out of the aircraft. Now one myth that I have never listened to is the myth that if you use cell phones or portable electronic devices during take-off or landing, you can damage the plane’s instruments and send it crashing down. This is not true, and the only reason they want all devices off is so that a person will not be distracted while they are trying to give you safety instructions to follow in case of an emergency. Remember, it is like texting and driving. If your eyes are on your phone, you are not fully paying attention to your surroundings. I believe in the world we live in today more people have become scared and more aware of how diseases and illnesses can be passed around through the air. They say the air in a plane because it is sealed closed it just get flowed back through the ac vents. The air in an aircraft cabin is actually recycled once every three minutes, with 60 percent of it going through True High-Efficiency Particle Filters (True HEPA) or High-Efficiency Particle Filters (HEPA). The other forty percent of recycled air goes to cooling the plane’s computers and its cargo hold. So technically the air you breath on a plane is a lot cleaner and healthier for you rather than the air in your normal every day lives. One of the last ones I will share and possibly one of the most important myths to debunk is that lightning strikes can bring down an airplane or make it explode! This is false, and planes are struck by lightning all the time, usually with no lasting ill effects. While lightning can damage aircraft systems, often, it’s not enough to impair a flight’s safety. Airplanes have lightning wicks and static wicks on their wings and tail that dissipate the electricity of a lightning strike and static electricity.
So, here are some of the top reasons I used to be afraid to fly and discovered how ridiculous and crazy I must have sounded. I hope this can help people get over their fear of flying and realize there is a whole other world just waiting for you! So, take a chance, jump on a plane, and have an adventure of a lifetime!
References
- Marcia Wendorf, ‘True and False Myths about Flying’ May 12, 2019,https://interestingengineering.com/true-and-false-myths-about-flights
- Lauren Cohn, ‘ 20 common myths about airplanes that you need to stop believing’, 2018, Reader Digest https://www.rd.com/culture/airplane-myths/
