Testimony of Healing June 24, 2002 Issue

Fear of flying conquered

Eric Oyama

I've loved flying since I was seven years old—anything from Boeing 747s to little commuter planes. The wings of the plane catching the air and lifting off the ground always excite me. And soaring over the earth, I have time to think—and a new perspective for these thoughts.

So, I was surprised to find myself feeling very apprehensive at the prospect of a flight from Honolulu to Minneapolis. Perhaps I'd been reading too much in the newspapers about crashes; but whatever it was, I found myself picturing our "tin can with wings" going down in the ocean and my having to open the escape door and deploy my life raft.

I tried comforting myself with the fact that I'd never heard of a Pacific Ocean accident. The counter thought was that statistically we were due for a Pacific crash, and it might just be this flight.

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