May I ask if this has been a life-long thing or something that happened later in life? I used to have no problems flying but now I cannot get on an airplane due to the feeling of being buried alive. Silly I know. Nothing to do with "how does it stay in the air" or "What if we crash". It's the claustrophobia after flying for 30 yrs.
Yeah... well, I'm not sure. As a kid, maybe 7 years old, some of the neighborhood bullies squished me, head first, into a small galvanized barrel... closed the lid, and rolled me around the street... screaming, terrified panic.
After that, not too bad except for dreams.
Next time... in a canoe, with my son maybe 1974. A tributary of the DuPage River, ( Chicago suburbs) where it ran under route 88. They used two 7 foot steel tubes to run the river under the 6 lanes of highway. We were riding the river after a storm, and there was 2 feet of water in the tubes... enough to ride through, but with the water moving quite fast. Shoulda checked it out, but didn't. Rode the canoe quickly through to the end on a fast current, and came up against vertical steel bars, as in a jail... No way out... Occasionally still dream about that kind of thing. BTW... we struggled and made it back alive.
Last bad experience... and I too, spent a lot of time flying before retiring.... was on a DC9, I think... Chicago to LA... 3-5-3 seating, and I was midplane and middle of the "5"....Sitting next to a 350 lb lady, and a 6ft+ 275lb man... both asleep. Started sweating, then eyes glazed and began to shake. Panic and into the aisle, climbing over bodies. Stewardess... "You can't stand in the aisle, Sir"! Then, pity... she understood... moved to first class, double martini, and the world gradually returned to normal.
One more... the next and last flight... end of my pre-retirement... Oakland to Portland to give an important presentation at a big meeting...same damned seat... Lady with a crying baby... Me trying to soothe the 6 month old... Little begger threw up all over me... and into my suit coat pocket.
This could go on forever... would someone begin a thread "Flying Adventures"
Am sure others here have had moments of terror or humor in the years of flying... Deserves separate treatment.
