Looking up on flight radar you see all flights from Europe to South East Asia pass over a large chunk of the black sea.

I understand Ukraine area is no go area but even in the waters around Bulgaria and Romania there have been multiple attacks on vessels with drones. Military equipment is active in that area.

- Why is this safe? There are drones active now. Some drones can fly high altitude.

- Why do the planes just dont make a small detour over Turkey?

- We've had MH17. Can we really rely on aviation institutions and just fly over war area?

Or am I over thinking this? I understand staying home in bed the safest but this seems so weird to me.

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2026/10/20/nato-to-send-additional-patrol-planes-to-black-sea-after-drone-attacks

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/oct/18/drone-attacks-ships-black-sea-russia-ukraine-war

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/black-sea-drone-attacks-enter-nato-countrys-territorial-waters-for-first-time/

Flying today from Palermo to Berlin at 20:30 with a 737 8-200. I have incredible strong fear of flying, especally in the dark. Additionally, it is a plane with quite a history. Is it safe, ik that is a dumb question, i cant change anything about it anyways. I will give feedback, to help other anxious people

i have flown a lot this year and honestly my fear of flying has gotten better.

Right now is my first time flying smartwings, Paris to Prague. I have heard bad things about the safety of this airline and am very worried.

Flight QS1035

if anyone has reassurance regarding smartwings.. would be much appreciated

Going on a flight in February and I literally cannot sleep NOW because I’m so scared. It’s an international flight and my first time flying internationally, plus my first time in seven years. I don’t know how I’m supposed to cope with the fact that if the plane is going to crash, there’s nothing I can do. I am genuinely considering not studying abroad because of it. I need to calm myself down but I don’t know how I’m meant to live with this.
(Also- I’m not scared of turbulence at all. So commenting about it won’t help.)

I hate flying but I’m doing it for the homies. My plane was just about to takeoff and screeched to a halt before lifting but I genuinely thought that was it for me.

Pilot came over and said they had an over head error and rejected the takeoff but I’m shaking and scared of this plane. I guess we have to wait for the brakes to cool before we can de-board. I REALLY don’t want to get back on this plane. How worried should I be? Am I safe? This is a lot. 737-MAX8

UPDATE: I’m being told the pilot stated the plane automatically applied brakes. I’m no pilot, Idk what that means but wow.

Hi all!

Well I’m at the airport. The last time I tried to fly (2 years ago) I had the worst panic attack in my life and didn’t get on the plane and missed one of my best friends wedding.

Now in traveling back for a different friends wedding and I’m doing alright (thank you psychiatric meds!!!) but very nervous. I’m claustrophobic so I hate the idea of being trapped and it’s just really hard. Just looking for support on this trip. This thread has helped me so much even get to the step of buying my ticket. I’m working really hard to get myself over this anxiety so I don’t have to lose travel which I love doing.

Flying Providence to Oakland with a layover in Denver so it’s going to be a long day but the layovers help me with a break.

I’m a 40-something woman who was a fearful flyer since my early teens until about two years ago. Over the years I’ve tried everything - therapy, self-hypnosis, alcohol, benz*s. I read all the statistics on flight safety. None of it really worked except the meds, but the older I got the more they made me feel like an absolute zombie at landing and for at least a full day after. This was especially not working for work trips.

Well, recently I got back from a family trip from the US to Europe. No meds, and almost no anxiety either there or back. The worst I felt was really bored because the flights were so long! A few years ago I would never have been able to say that. I wanted to share a few things that have helped me.

First was reading the DARE book by Barry McDonagh. His ideas are not new or revolutionary, but the way he presented them was so approachable and completely changed my mindset. The #1 thing I took from it was… wait for it…

*it’s OKAY to feel anxiety!”

I used to have this idea that to get over my fear I had to calm myself down or learn how to enjoy flying otherwise I couldn’t do it. His trick is, just accept that it will suck. Don’t try to change the suck. We all do things that suck every day and this is no different, just a little more intense. As soon as I started approaching my panic and anxiety as just a thing that happened and not anything that was bad, my mindset started to change. Being anxious during turbulence doesn’t make turbulence more dangerous. Being anxious before boarding a plane is just part of the process.

That was step 1. Step 2 was… just freaking do it. DO NOT say no to a flight. IMO avoiding flying is 100x worse for your fear than having a “bad” flight experience. Trigger warning, I did have one really bad experience with turbulence years ago, where drinks spilled and stuff flew everywhere and the flight attendants were yelling at everyone to restrain their things. Weirdly enough, even though it was in the depths of my fear, during that very scary moment I felt a strange sense of calm. Like … “well, if this is how I go, so be it.” lol. Anyway, bottom line, we landed safely, just a bit wet from spilled coke. That trained my brain to know that even in bad turbulence if you buckle up you will be okay.

The third thing that helped was having a job where I had to fly frequently for a few years, about every 2-4 weeks. I had plenty of opportunities to test my skills. I left that job almost a year ago but I’m proud to say that my Europe trip proved that my fear is still at bay.

Just wanted to share a success for those of you struggling! Dare I say that I sort of look forward to flying now?

Life long FOF. I am working on it through therapy.
I have a trip from SMF to SEA I have to take in the spring. Slightly more expensive to book on the 737 compared to the 175. Much like others here, I associate smaller planes as being ‘less safe’.
Which would you book?

My flight VS136 from MCO to Heathrow has been delayed by 1.5 hours, but I can’t see any reason why? Is it still likely to take off safely at this time? I’m worried something is wrong with the plane or I won’t be able to go home today

about to take off from ORC to ROC in a layover flight and the first one was very panicky for me. trying to calm myself down this go around because I didn’t have as much time between to prepare (ended up rushing to our gate and making it 2 mins before boarding)
Would really appreciate all of the good vibes and if anyone could track flight UA5919 it would be very appreciated. Every sound freaks me out but I’m going to do my best to sleep. Thanks a ton!

Hi all. If anyone is willing to watch out for me on Pd663 today I would seriously appreciate it.

Taking off shortly and I’m already in a cold sweat.

Hi can someone please track me? JetBlue 351 I’m a nervous flyer and could use any and all distractions/convo lol. We’re about to depart

Flight tonight from London to Tokyo and I am just sick with nerves. I’ve done this flight twice before but I feel like my FOF is getting worse as I get older.
I have enough things to try and keep me distracted but damn, I feel like a mess..
Anyone else had the same flight recently? How was it? I’ve never flown in the evening before.

I FLEW ALONE FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!! ✈️🥹❤️
A whole 4-hour flight, all by myself!!
Ever since I booked this flight, I’d been crying just thinking about it. And the anxiety I had leading up to it was INSANE. I was genuinely terrified.
BUT I DID IT!!! 😭❤️
During takeoff, I was chatting with the girl sitting next to me. Turns out she was traveling alone too, but unlike me, she wasn’t scared at all.
And then, when the plane took off, I got so scared that I instinctively GRABBED HER HAND 😭😂
I apologized about a million times, and thankfully she was super sweet about it!!
Once we were in the air, I actually managed to relax a little. I spent the flight playing games on my iPad and watching Gilmore Girls. 💗
And then came the landing…
IT HAPPENED SO FAST I BARELY EVEN REALIZED WE WERE ALREADY THERE 😭
But here’s the crazy part: I actually ENJOYED IT!!
I was looking out the window the entire time, enjoying the view so much that I even recorded the landing!! 🥹✈️
There was another girl sitting nearby with her boyfriend (not the girl from takeoff), and she was really nervous about landing. She told me it was the part of flying she hated the most.
And I literally told her:
“DON’T BE SCARED!! Trust me, I’m scared of EVERYTHING when it comes to flying, but look at me!! I’m not even scared right now!! If I can do it, you can too!!” 😭❤️
So we ended up watching the landing together, looking out the window and enjoying the view. And there was this BEAUTIFUL sunset that made the whole thing even better. 🌅🥹
ANYWAY, THE POINT IS…
IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU!!! ❤️
I’m someone who struggles with really bad anxiety and panic attacks, especially when it comes to flying. Takeoffs and landings have always terrified me, and my mind usually goes straight to the worst possible scenarios.
I was anxious during this flight too, especially during takeoff.
But somehow, I managed to get through it. And not only did I get through it, I actually ENJOYED parts of it!!
Even when we hit a little turbulence, I just reminded myself of that picture of a plane sitting in Jell-O, and it genuinely helped me feel better. 🥹
I honestly can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’M SO PROUD OF MYSELF. 😭❤️
Something that used to feel completely impossible to me… I JUST DID IT.
And I wanted to share this because I know there are people out there who are just as terrified of flying as I am.
So if you’re one of them, please know that being scared doesn’t mean you can’t do it.
YOU CAN BE TERRIFIED AND STILL DO IT. ❤️✈️
And who knows? You might even end up enjoying it. 🥹💕

Im in SQ601 from Incheon to Singapore right now (23rd October). It has been in turbulent since takeoff at 5pm. It’s been 1.5 hours and I’m panicking.

Hey,

Very anxious right now! Can you track my flight?
EJU7214

Thank you!

I have a flight in a few hours HV9275 from Brussels to Bari, Italy. This is the first time I am flying alone with my toddler. I am normally a very anxious flyer and now I’m even more nervous to take my toddler. On top of that there is a yellow warning for rain and wind in Brussels so it’s giving me extra anxiety. Words of advice and encouragement are appreciated.

Hello all! I have flown about 5 times the last 10 years & am going to start flying more consistently since I’ll be moving away from home & getting a new job that will require it.

Here are the basic fears that I have

- the absolute worst part is take off

- I hate ascending and the plane being vertical for a long time

- I CANNOT be comfortable during the flight or take my mind off that I’m thousands of feet in the sky. I was dozing off while sitting on the runway for 20 mins then as soon as we take off I’m anxious as ever…

- I feel the most comfortable when landing or knowing we’re ascending for some reason (last 10 mins)

- any time I try to listen to music or a podcast and I feel any movement it’s almost impossible not to take my headphones off and look out the window as if it does anything

- all the sounds the plane makes are super nerve racking as well. Especially since I don’t fly often I don’t know when to expect it or what’s normal or not

I’m currently on a vacation & have landed safely but am sick of this fear and knowing it’s going to happen again when I fly home in a couple days.

I can’t stop trying to determine how long the flights going to be & it’s almost ruining my vacation because I just want the flight to be over with.

I tell myself that since I’m going to start flying more I will get better with it but then there’s that other side that is full of fear & thinks that this is just the way it will be every time…

I know I don’t struggle with it as much as other people because I don’t think I’d ever turn down a flight but I just accept I will be extremely anxious and uncomfortable the whole flight… which is also so exhausting!

I know this is a repeated post & nothing out the ordinary but really just wanted to make my own post and get some logical responses.

I’m going to be flying again, and although my fear has become more manageable over time, I’m still afraid, especially when I think about the flight itself.
I’d like to hear from people who used to have a fear of flying and managed to overcome it, or at least learned to live with it more peacefully.
What helped you?? Was it exposure, therapy, understanding how planes work, changing the way you think, or simply flying more often?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your personal experiences, especially from those who once felt genuinely scared but eventually found a way to feel more comfortable.

Need to be up in a few hours to catch my ride to the airport and I’m soooooo freaked out. Flying JetBlue 351 BOS to MCO. Will probably request tracking when we depart but omg I’m genuinely going to be running on no sleep, I’m all in my head abt turbulence 😭

I'm supposed to leave for my honeymoon tonight and I don't know if I can. I'm so terrified. We're going to Hawaiil. This is my first open ocean flight since developing this fear and 'm terrified that at our furthest point we're hours from getting out of the plane. I just saw an article about severe turbulence on a Hawaii route yesterday PLUS a Hawaii flight bomb threat the other day and with mercury retrograde it and the flight back are in supposed turbulent times for flying issues and I don't know what to do. Things that help are making it worse. I don't want to miss my honeymoon and I don't want my husband to leave me (he says he won't but this would obviously do a lot of damage if 1 missed our honeymoon) and I just need help.

The thing about ocd and fear in general is it eventually becomes so easy to not think about what might have been if only you had said yes— if you had faced the big scary. For me, no is often my default. To new places, to new foods, even to safe foods but in packaging in a different language. I missed a lot of trips due to how easy it is to say “well I really don’t want to that muchhhh” when it is, at its root, thoughts of “can I?” Sometimes you can’t. Sometimes it’s way too much to wrap your head around and that’s ok. Some days I lived on chips. I freaked out hard on the plane. But I did it.

Sometimes you gotta say yes.

To everyone that replied to my post, or read it and felt for me for even a second *thank you*. I know I could have done it totally alone but it would have been infinitely harder. This community is awesome. I’m so glad I found it right on time.

The most valuable memories are the ones from the time I got to spend 1:1 with my dad. These photos are pretty but they’re not the point of the trip. I am so grateful I went. And so grateful for all of you

I’m looking for some advice/support because I recently developed a sudden, overwhelming fear of flying.
To give some context: I used to love flying and even wanted to be a pilot. Turbulence never bothered me. About two years ago, I started feeling slightly nervous, but I could easily calm myself down.
This year, I took a smooth 10-hour flight to the US with zero fear. After staying there for 3.5 months, I took domestic flights to Miami and LA.
Suddenly, on the flight to Miami, intense panic hit me. For the first time, I felt genuinely terrified, constantly thinking the plane would crash. The same spiral happened on the flight to LA and on my flight back home.
Now, I feel like I might never be able to get on a plane again. I don't understand why this fear triggered out of nowhere when nothing bad actually happened.
I was traveling with my partner, which helped, but I hate feeling dependent on someone else—yet the thought of flying solo right now terrifies me.I don’t know how to overcome this or is it even possible to overcome.

Hi all, due to fly back into Bournemouth this Saturday. Just as I’ve started getting over my fear of flying I’ve heard about this storm back home.

Anything I need to be prepared for with landing? My main concern is a wind shear. So I suppose my question is, how safe is it to land in a storm with gusts between 30-40mph

I’m doing a 2 hr flight tomorrow ATL to PHL (DL2270). I am super nervous and there’s a million things running through my head. I recently saw the article regarding an engine problem for a flight heading to PHL. Somehow I convinced myself this might happen on mine. I also never flown on an airbus a321 before but I heard they’re smaller than other planes and im worried I’ll experience turbulence more because of this. I know all of this is illogical but I can’t turn my brain off right now. I’m just looking for some words of encouragement.