There are many statistics out there that prove that flying on a commercial airplane is safe, that plane crashes are overall pretty unlikely. Still, up to an estimated 40% of Americans feel some fear at the thought of flying. So, amid the travel rush of the holiday season, we ask MIT aeronautical engineer Mark Drela: How does a plane lift off and stay up in the air? Interested in more stories on physics? Email us at [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Driving around Washington, D.C., I see commercial planes all the time, taking off from Dulles, coming into Reagan. They're kind of a marvel of engineering in the form of a gigantic aluminum bird. But that's not how Rami Barnwell feels about it. A longtime friend of the show, Rami is not a fan of flying.
I always had a stuffed animal with me in childhood when I would fly. I still have it. It's a beanie baby named Bridget. And one time in the Atlanta airport, I left her on the plane train. And my family missed our flight because I had to have Bridget to get on the plane.
This fear stayed with her into adulthood. At 25, she flew to her best friend's wedding. And that was the first time as an adult she flew sober.
And she was overcome with anxiety. I thought that I was going to throw up the entire time. Like, in the airport, I, like, couldn't get my heart rate down. I was freaking out. Like, when I sat down on the flight, I just tried my hardest to fall asleep before it took off.
So that's what Raimi does now. She's chosen the plane nap strategy. Falls asleep before it takes off, always in a window seat, always cocooned with an eye mask. But the fear is still there in the back of her mind, and it's entirely to do with the plane.
I think the takeoff and in the air are the scariest. For me, the takeoff is like... This doesn't make sense. It's not going to go in the air. It's not going to work. This is so heavy. How is it going to make it every single time? So you're not disconnected at all from how absolutely absurd it is that we fly? Not at all. It's like very hyper present in my mind.
And I actually, when I get on a flight, I'm like having to remind myself that the odds of the plane crashing are smaller than the odds of me getting into a car accident. Every time I fly, I'm like, Raimi, this plane is not going to crash. Probably. Probably.
Statistically, a plane crash is super unlikely. But still, according to a 2016 paper, up to an estimated 40% of Americans feel some fear at the thought of flying. And Raimi has questions.
Yeah, I would like to understand how the flight stays in the air once it takes off. despite the weight differential between the plane and the air. Okay. How it gets up there. How it gets up there, yeah.
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