40 The Explosive Childning the aircraft for empty seats to move to). The plane
landed safely, of course, and as I was leaving the airplane
once we’d landed, the flight attendant and pilot were
waiting at the door and smiled as I approached. The
flight attendant tugged on the pilot’s sleeve and intro-
duced me: “Captain, this is the gentleman who was help-
ing you fly the plane.”
I’m proud to say that although I still generally prefer
window seats, I no longer scan the skies for oncoming air-
craft or review the emergency manual (and have sur-
vived hundreds of flights on which I did neither). How
did I get over my flight anxiety? Experience. And by
thinking (clearly). An Air Florida pilot got the process
going. As I was boarding this Air Florida flight, the cap-
tain was greeting passengers at the door of the aircraft. I
seized the opportunity.
“You’re going to fly the plane safely, aren’t you?” I
sputtered.
The pilot’s response was more helpful than he knew:
“What, you think I want to die, buddy?”
That the pilot wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about
dying was an important revelation, and it got me think-
ing. About the thousands of planes in the air across the
world at any given time and the slim odds of something
disastrous happening to the plane that I was on. About
the millions of flights that arrive at their destinations un-
eventfully each year. About the many, many flights I have