This is the first time I’ve ever relied on a plane to bring me home. I just moved to Arkansas, most of my friends are in North Carolina, and my family lives in Maryland.
For me, buying a plane ticket is buying a shortcut to the people I grew up with. I love the time I get to reflect on a long car trip, but flying is a wonderful — though overpriced — alternative. I have enough time to feel excitement, but that’s about it.
So when my friend and coworker said flying was a matter of apprehension rather than anticipation, I wanted to understand why.
My first flight was to Las Vegas to see my aunt and uncle. I was nervous, but my dad, a mechanical engineer, told me flying was much safer than driving. It’s the perception of control that reassures drivers, he said.
Indeed, about 30,000 die per year in car crashes in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Around 750 have died in commercial aircraft accidents worldwide this year. None of these accidents occurred on a domestic flight.
But I don’t think statistics are reassuring to Allison. Fear doesn’t work that way — except maybe when it’s your first flight, and your dad tells you it’s going to fine.
In any case, fear is more concerned with the outlier than the norm.
In March, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared from radar off the Gulf of Thailand with 239 aboard. Three months later, a Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing nearly 300 people.
The fuel for fear is certainly present, but Allison doesn’t seem to dwell on those incidents.
I sat in the back as Allison settled into the co-pilot’s seat in a prop plane at the Bentonville Municipal Airport. The plane taxied down the runway, and I felt the familiar excitement. Allison looked terrified but slowly smiled. We could see Crystal Bridges and just make out her apartment.
I don’t know where her fear comes from, but I believe it can be overwritten by beauty and joy.
Margot, I hope you’re an exceptionally cute baby.