Tuesday - July 13, 2004
Oh, Captain - my Captain! Please tell me what's happening!
To paraphrase Walt Whitman's famous poem, an ode to an assassinated Abraham
Lincoln, many passengers wish their captains - or whoever's operating the
plane's intercom, would tell them what's happening.
During the time I ran fear of flying classes for
Ansett Australia (1994-2000), those who had enrolled in the program usually had
two opportunities to meet and talk with flight
crew.
The first was in session 2 of our 5-session weekly course, when a pilot would hold the floor and discuss his or her role: their career path leading them to occupy either the left or right seat of a commercial aircraft, their recurrent testing and licensing, crew resource management, aspects of flight planning including weather, fuel, and air traffic control procedures, emergency management, and so on. At the end of the "chalk-and-talk" session, we would don fluorescent safety vests, ear plugs and warm gear, and head to the tarmac for the pilot to show us a typical walkaround he would do in his pre-flight check. (I asked all the participants to look for this to happen for each flight they might observe when they visited the airport.)
Then we would board the aircraft and three or four at a time, the group would get a tour of the flight deck and have their questions answered.
Most thought this was a very valuable component of the course. Their next visit to the flight deck was when it was a "working" one during the graduation flight, and they were invited in during cruise to see the crew in action (they actually weren't doing much in terms of activity, mainly monitoring systems with occasional radio contact with air traffic control).
Occasionally, the crew asked specific questions about the group's fears. Some were good at empathising, while others couldn't understand why something they enjoyed so much could be so feared.
Very occasionally, a question from one member of the group would see the flight crew inviting them to remain on the flight deck for descent and landing, in which case I usually stayed with the crew too, taking the jumpseat behind the captain, where I could keep an eye on my group member who got a brilliant view seated behind and between the two flight crew (at least on the very large Boeing 767 flight decks.)
Usually , most remarked on how slow we seemed to be travelling looking forward through the flight deck windows, with clouds coming towards us rather than alongside us.
The first was in session 2 of our 5-session weekly course, when a pilot would hold the floor and discuss his or her role: their career path leading them to occupy either the left or right seat of a commercial aircraft, their recurrent testing and licensing, crew resource management, aspects of flight planning including weather, fuel, and air traffic control procedures, emergency management, and so on. At the end of the "chalk-and-talk" session, we would don fluorescent safety vests, ear plugs and warm gear, and head to the tarmac for the pilot to show us a typical walkaround he would do in his pre-flight check. (I asked all the participants to look for this to happen for each flight they might observe when they visited the airport.)
Then we would board the aircraft and three or four at a time, the group would get a tour of the flight deck and have their questions answered.
Most thought this was a very valuable component of the course. Their next visit to the flight deck was when it was a "working" one during the graduation flight, and they were invited in during cruise to see the crew in action (they actually weren't doing much in terms of activity, mainly monitoring systems with occasional radio contact with air traffic control).
Occasionally, the crew asked specific questions about the group's fears. Some were good at empathising, while others couldn't understand why something they enjoyed so much could be so feared.
Very occasionally, a question from one member of the group would see the flight crew inviting them to remain on the flight deck for descent and landing, in which case I usually stayed with the crew too, taking the jumpseat behind the captain, where I could keep an eye on my group member who got a brilliant view seated behind and between the two flight crew (at least on the very large Boeing 767 flight decks.)
Usually , most remarked on how slow we seemed to be travelling looking forward through the flight deck windows, with clouds coming towards us rather than alongside us.
Landings were always the event that took their
breath away, as the aircraft came in over the runway threshold at 140mph,
seeming to glide in so slowly as if we were floating.
Sadly, even for me, such experiences came to an end after the events of September 11, 2001. I am so grateful I had the chance to do quite a few landings like this (also with Air New Zealand between Melbourne and Wellington) and on some occasions even videod the landings.
One thing pilots often would ask me is whether they should give advanced notice over the public address of upcoming mild turbulence. Severe turbulence would sometimes not be able to be forecast being it was the Clear Air Turbulence type.
But weather reports and briefings from air traffic control and aircraft ahead occasionally allowed flight crew to know what their flight could expect in a few minutes.
Sometimes, flight crew wanted to say something like "... please make sure your seatbelts are fastened. We expect a few bumps ahead." Other times, only if they actually began to encounter turbulence would they reinforce the seatbelt message.
I really couldn't inform the crew of the best choice. Some people would rather not be told, while others preferred not to be surprised even if they had no plan to handle turbulence.
My own guess is that after significant bouncing around, and having entered calm air, it would do no harm for the flight crew to come on the PA, and say "...we seem to have left those bumps behind us. Looks like it was some fast upper air jet streams (or whatever), and we've now found some stable air. While turbulence for some of you might feel uncomfortable, at no time is it a problem for the aircraft and us, it's safe for you as long as you keep your seat belt firmly on. Just think about it like a car going over rough roads with occasional potholes. You might have felt from time to time that you're falling, but in reality, we hardly changed altitude and the instruments here showed that too."
The other time that passengers become concerned over pilots' communication strategies are when things don't go according to schedule. Occasionally, when minimum equipment list (MEL) components become US (unserviceable) the flight is delayed until a repair is effected.
(MELs are determined according to federal authorities (including any countries the aircraft will fly to), the manufacturer, and the airline itself. As I have written elsewhere in this blog, it is not unusual for scheduled flights to leave with some items on board not working, or working less than perfectly. These items are not related to safety, but more related to passenger comfort or service. These item being US do not affect the safety in any way, but might mean less passengers than normal might be uplifted. There are also items that can be repaired by pilots, and there are other items which must only be repaired or replaced by licensed engineers. If you're interested in MELs, you can also Google for CDL (Configuration Deviation List), and PUS (Permissible Unserviceabilities).
Passengers may already be on board, or gathered in the gate area at this time. Sometimes, the crew will report a "few small problems". In another context, say during the descent stage of a flight, a last minute flight course changed issued by air traffic control will see the crew discuss "problems" requiring their attention prior to arrival.
Hearing flight crew discuss "problems" over the PA often triggers a series of catatrophising reactions on the part of fearful flyers. However, this is a distortion or misinterpretation of how the crew use the term "problem".
Having observed crews in action, the term "problem" has two connotations.
One is to see it as a synonym for "adjustment". So, an MEL problem means some adjustments need to be made to equipment so that the "problem" of a delayed pushback (and maybe missing the departure time slot) is overcome.
In another context, a change of runway wind direction on descent may see the crew making some hasty flight computer entries in order to set the aircraft up for a new approach. What was an easy, low level work environment, now becomes much more active with new arrival procedures needing to be computed quickly.
In this sense, using the term "problem" is more akin to its use in mathematics, where "problems" are solved. Here problems are not errors or mistakes, they are activities heading to a solution. . In mathematics text books it's not uncommon to see chapters or sections devoted to working through problems, in order to find find solutions. I recall my Year 12 math classes where we were asked to find the solutions to problems.
So, pilots discuss problems as seeking solutions to equations or changes of data, much like in mathematics. It doesn't mean when they use the term that some disaster is imminent. Far from it, in fact. They are using their skills to make changes using familiar processes practised daily.
Sometimes, the word "situation" will be substituted for "problem", meaning several factors have come together requiring some skillful decision making.
Next time you're on board, have a close listen to the words used by the crew, and see if knowing more about their communication styles makes a difference.
(By the way, the poem I listed above by Walt Whitman - Oh Captain! My Captain! - was converted into a song in Hebrew and dedicated to Yitzkak Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister, after he was assassinated in 1995. The music was composed by Naomi Shemer, who wrote many songs dedicated to the life in Israel, and who died in late June, 2004.)
Sunday - May 16, 2004
"Whoosh...whirrr...bing....screeech....roaaar"
What are all those strange frightening
noises, movements and events during my flight? Are these normal and therefore
safe?
I thought I'd add this new category because one
of the gold standard treatment strategies for
overcoming fear of flying is learning about normal flight events. And every
person or group I have worked with (hundreds by now) have usually welcomed this
knowledge and have often referred to it when we meet up again, saying how useful
it was to know.
That certainly fits my theory of behaviour change, so it's appropriate to include it here, with perhaps a few sample sounds to help the "what is that?" question. You might use them in your own exposure and desensitization approach.
I'll keep adding new entries here over time, but if you have a specific example you want to know about, or think others might profit from knowing, you can write to me and I will evaluate, investigate and upload.
There are at least two ways to go about organising this entry:
1. From most unusual and rare, to most common
2. Chronological - from boarding to deplaning.
I suppose I could add most frightening to least, but that is too subjective for my liking although experience suggests these can be ordered in scale.
Or I could add, "evidence from a normal flight to a flight in trouble" but again, believe it or not, there is a certain subjectivity to that too!
Moreover, focussing on troublesome flights takes the focus away from dealing with the much more common needless fears and behaviours that people come visit me asking for assistance.
Frankly, I would find it counterproductive to produce a Category entitled: "How to know the signs of a flight in real trouble"!
For a start, I am unqualified to answer that, and refer you to the blog entry about accurate information from credible sources.
Secondly, it's the wrong focus for a website devoted to helping overcoming fear of flying. I would offer that, in contrast, it takes you further down an improvement path to recognise the normality of regular flight events, than the rare events. Mind you, airline crews regularly practise the management of these events, on a "just in case" basis. It is in fact one of the ways these rare events stay that way. It is their rarity that brings them to our attention on the evening's news and newspapers' front page.
So, what are some of the noises, vibrations and movements you can expect to hear and feel as part of a normal flight?
1. I regularly show clients a video I took of an airport interior, starting with a wide shot (shown below) of the gate area. This is an introductory video which sets the scene for a boarding segment which soon follows.
That certainly fits my theory of behaviour change, so it's appropriate to include it here, with perhaps a few sample sounds to help the "what is that?" question. You might use them in your own exposure and desensitization approach.
I'll keep adding new entries here over time, but if you have a specific example you want to know about, or think others might profit from knowing, you can write to me and I will evaluate, investigate and upload.
There are at least two ways to go about organising this entry:
1. From most unusual and rare, to most common
2. Chronological - from boarding to deplaning.
I suppose I could add most frightening to least, but that is too subjective for my liking although experience suggests these can be ordered in scale.
Or I could add, "evidence from a normal flight to a flight in trouble" but again, believe it or not, there is a certain subjectivity to that too!
Moreover, focussing on troublesome flights takes the focus away from dealing with the much more common needless fears and behaviours that people come visit me asking for assistance.
Frankly, I would find it counterproductive to produce a Category entitled: "How to know the signs of a flight in real trouble"!
For a start, I am unqualified to answer that, and refer you to the blog entry about accurate information from credible sources.
Secondly, it's the wrong focus for a website devoted to helping overcoming fear of flying. I would offer that, in contrast, it takes you further down an improvement path to recognise the normality of regular flight events, than the rare events. Mind you, airline crews regularly practise the management of these events, on a "just in case" basis. It is in fact one of the ways these rare events stay that way. It is their rarity that brings them to our attention on the evening's news and newspapers' front page.
So, what are some of the noises, vibrations and movements you can expect to hear and feel as part of a normal flight?
1. I regularly show clients a video I took of an airport interior, starting with a wide shot (shown below) of the gate area. This is an introductory video which sets the scene for a boarding segment which soon follows.
I will usually ask about any reactions to seeing and hearing this video, although no planes are actually seen.
The video then moves to the gate area where people can be seen milling about and some are already moving through the boarding pass check. Many clients see various parts of the airport, which I refer as being landside (as compared to being on board, which is airside), as part of a countdown to takeoff on their day of flying.
2. Boarding Gate area:
I also show a video of people waiting in this area, the last area landside before boarding. In many airports, visitors and travellers' friends and family can see farewells here (as well as waiting for arriving flights) although that is restricted to domestic flights, not involving Customs and Immigration. In the US, many airports nowadays will not allow visitors past the first ticketing and baggage check-in area, and arriving passengers may only be met after they have retrieved their luggage. In Australia, that's not yet the case fortunately.
It is also in this area that flyers may get a first glimpse of their aircraft, as well as the crew who will be flying it. It is also an area for last minute seat changes and most gates will usually be staffed about 30" before the scheduled flight time.
3. Transition to airside:
Many modern airports now use jetways to allow passengers to move from the gate area to their aircraft without having to walk on the tarmac, exposed to weather. Some of these are quite long and wide, while others are short and narrow. Not all are fitted with windows, and usually will not be airconditioned so the temperature may reflect the actual outside weather. It is here that many flyers feel they have left the "safety" of earth, and are beginning or ramping up their fearful experience. There are also lots of triggers here too - enclosed areas, changes of temperature, incline or decline of the jetway, airport/aircraft noises and smells (particularly aviation fuel) and airline staff such as maintenance crew, baggage handlers, duty managers with two-way radios, security personnel, and so on.
Sometimes a large crowd can form in these jetways as people, as passengers stop at the aircraft's entrance to show their boarding passes, and be welcomed and directed to their seat area. This is also a location where fearful flyers sometimes choose to inform the greeting cabin crew that they are anxious flyers. Graduates of Qantas' Fearless Flyer course receive a plastic credit-card size card to show crew, while I have sometimes given clients my business card to show along with my suggestion they say hello and make themselves known to crew.
I will say more about this in another blog entry, but I ask my clients to use this procedure for the first few times after treatment with the expectation that eventually it will not be used at all. Same goes for those using the Qantas card who also have come to see me for some individual work. If they report back to me that they were upgraded as a result of declaring themselves to be fearful flyers or graduates of such programs, I will smile and ask if they enjoyed the experience, then point out not to expect it the next time.
Indeed, I will go so far as to say it may not be helpful in the long run since it pairs a pleasant experience (the upgrade) with an unpleasant stimulus (fear flying), such that one's fears are reinforced. After all, why let go of the fear if it gets you upgraded!
Most people I discuss this with agree that they would rather fly anxiety-free in coach than anxious in first!
By all means, work out ahead of time what you want to mention to cabin crew on being greeted at the aircarft's door. Some things people have said include:
"I'm a nervous flier. If
you could just come up and say hello once in a while when you've got time, I
know that helps."
"I've just finished doing a course for fearful flyers. I'm nervous and excited to see how I do today."
"I am a little nervous about flying. Would you be able to let me see the flight crew to say hello - I know that helps me."
"This is my first flight after being afraid to fly for a long while. Just wanted to let you know."
"I've just finished doing a course for fearful flyers. I'm nervous and excited to see how I do today."
"I am a little nervous about flying. Would you be able to let me see the flight crew to say hello - I know that helps me."
"This is my first flight after being afraid to fly for a long while. Just wanted to let you know."
Hopefully you get the idea. Boarding is an anxious time for lots of people for all sorts of reasons. The crew are anxious too, principally about getting away on time, and doing a professional job. They may be anxious too because senior check crew may be aboard to check their performance, there are VIPs aboard, or they are back from holidays and trying to get back in the swing of things.
So don't linger by the door making chit-chat. Say your piece to the cabin crew when you board and make your way to your seating area.
4. Once seated, you may notice it's actually quieter there than at the doorway, where lots of airport sounds could be heard. But there are still noises and sounds you need to know about to feel comfortable and safe.
Perhaps the one you will first notice will be an engineering humming. This is usually due to the Auxillary Power Unit often situated in the aircraft's tail. It's a small jet engine which supplies no thrust, but does supply power while the aircraft is on the ground, virtually making it independent from ground power. The APU supplies power for lighting, airconditioning, hydraulic systems.
(more to come)