WHY YOU SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID OF FLYING

AS HUMANS, WE TEND TO REMEMBER THE

CATASTROPHES AND FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE,

SO OUR MEMORIES ARE VERY BIASED

CONSIDER THAT MOST ACCIDENTS HAPPEN

DURING TAKE-OFF AND LANDING. AND THE VAST

MAJORITY OF THOSE ACCIDENTS ARE ANYTHING

BUT FATAL

FURTHERMORE, CONSIDER THAT PLANES ARE LINING

UP IN FRONT OF YOU AND BEHIND YOU TO TAKE-OFF

THE RUNWAY YOU ARE ON HAS MOST LIKELY SEEN

CONSTANT USE SINCE ITS CONSTRUCTION WITHOUT

A SINGLE ACCIDENT

YOUR PILOT AND CO-PILOT AND ENTIRE FLIGHT STAFF

HAVE FLOWN MOST OF THEIR CAREERS AND WILL

CONTINUE FLYING FOR THE REST OF THEIR CAREERS

THE REASON THAT THESE STATISTICS WILL NOT MAKE

YOU FEEL ANY BETTER IS BECAUSE YOUR BRAIN WILL

RELEASE STRESS HORMONES AS SOON AS YOU FEEL

THAT LITTLE BIT OF TURBULENCE

AND YOU WILL QUICKLY FORGET THESE STATISTICS.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? WE'LL TRY ONE MORE

ANYWAY. YOU PROBABLY THINK THAT WHEN YOU

GET IN A CAR CRASH YOU HAVE A GOOD CHANCE

OF SURVIVING BUT AS SOON AS THE PLANE STARTS

GOING DOWN YOU'RE DOOMED RIGHT? WRONG.

EVEN IF YOU DO SOMEHOW MANAGE TO GET IN A

PLANE CRASH (YOU WON'T), YOU WILL ALMOST

CERTAINLY SURVIVE. BETWEEN 1993 AND 2000

THERE WERE 568 PLANE CRASHES IN THE US

INVOLVING 53,487 PEOPLE. 51,207 SURVIVED.

ACTUALLY, EVEN ON THE WORST 26 CRASHES,

MORE THAN HALF OF THE PASSENGERS SURVIVED.

SEE? WE TOLD YOU THAT YOUR FEAR WAS

JUST PLANE SILLY.