Don't let midair jitters get you down

When Air France Flight 447 fell out of the sky May 31, Tom Bunn's phone started ringing.

The fear-of-flying expert was inundated with nervous questions. Did turbulence crack up the jet? Was lightning the cause? Worst of all, did the controls just stop working?

"The characteristics of this crash really had an impact because there was no information about the cause, but rampant media speculation," says Bunn, 73, a pilot and therapist who runs Soar, a Connecticut-based company that helps people cope with their fears of flying. "It really freaked people out."

And that's the exact opposite reaction to the self-soothing behavior he teaches.

As the weeks drag on and no cause is found for the crash of the jet, which disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean while en route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, the seemingly random nature of its doom is enough to spook even hardy fliers.

But it's worse for the estimated one in six Americans who truly fear to fly.

Angelo Giordimaina, 53, of Troy, Mich., is one of them. After avoiding planes for years, he was proud when he managed to fly to Mexico this past spring on vacation. A few weeks ago, he was about to book a flight to California to see his daughter.

"The possibility that the plane just disintegrated in midair put me back to where I was before. I've decided I will take the train to California," he says with sorrow and regret.

Another fearful flier e-mailed Bunn that Flight 447 brought back her worst fears about turbulence.

"Flying over the ocean during a storm would be my worst nightmare, so I guess this accident hit home. I understand in my mind that it is safe for planes, but one little bump and I go from a two to a 10 on the fear scale and can't seem to stop it," she wrote.

Logically, of course, one plane crash does not predict another.

"One in 5 million flights crash. But if there is a crash this week, it doesn't change the risk of flying tomorrow or the day after," says Bunn, a former Air Force and commercial pilot. "It may only change your thoughts."

Fearful fliers lack the ability to soothe themselves when deprived of the ability to control an event or escape.

"When you get on an airplane, you don't control the plane and you have no way to escape," Bunn says. "When a person with a phobia anticipates a flight, they think, 'Oh, my God, it might crash.' The first time that thought comes to mind, they probably are aware they are making it up. But if they repeat it over and over, imagination becomes fact -- 'I just know if I get on the plane, it is going to crash.' It begins to feel like an omen."

With an estimated one in three people at least a little nervous during takeoff or turbulence, tools to conquer fear of flying can be used by all who board an airplane.

There is no magic formula, but some of the soothing behaviors Bunn recommends are distraction-based: Use headphones to mask the plane's noises. Look at colorful magazine photos or puzzles instead of the vibrating walls.

Learning how a plane works helps fight anxiety because it explains all the clunks, dips and noises, he says. And meeting the captain before the flight helps a lot. Ask the gate agent if you can board early, then find a flight attendant to explain that you are an anxious flier and you've been advised to meet the captain.