Shooting Straight: Tempting fate with flight

Those who have always had a fear of flying will now of course be even more scared after the missing Malaysian plane episode. After all, we have been told multiple times that the most dangerous parts about flying is the take off and the landing.  And now, when a plane just disappeared mid-air, no one is able to remotely understand how it might have happened.

The fear of flying comes primarily because we are not designed by nature to take off into the air, like a bird. So thanks to the Wright brothers and other such geniuses, we were unnaturally propelled in the air and our greed for reaching our destination faster than ever, fuels it. We have all experienced fearful moments when we have felt disconnected from someone close to us.  So when there’s a complete disconnect between us and mother Earth, one can only imagine the utter helplessness.

The fate of the Malaysian plane is of course very hard to accept. Theories — which include everything from a terror attack to a mechanical malfunction — will most probably remain forever speculative. Yes, we know that a fatal airline accident like this one is rare. They say that the probability of dying in an air crash is one in a million but deep down I am scared that, I could be that one in a million. So, what can one do to land safely? I, for one, decided to pray to Balaji, Jesus and Allah because one can never be sure who among them is going to be up there eventually and I don’t want to rub any one of them on the wrong side, lest my plane crashes.

Having said that, I truly believe that more than faith in God, true faith is about sitting in a reclined chair with a glass of wine in hand and eyeing the pretty airhostess, completely oblivious to the fact that you are flying at an altitude of 35,000 in a pressurised metal balloon, which is flying at a speed of more than 500 miles per hour. That’s what I will call “the height of blissful ignorance.”

And by the way have a safe flight next time dearies!