The Lemon Fool

Pilot scared of flying was unfairly sacked, tribunal rules

Telegraph

XFool wrote:Pilot scared of flying was unfairly sacked, tribunal rules

Telegraph

My father is not a pilot but has developed a similar phobia of flying and enclosed unfamiliar spaces. It's quite debilitating.

Anyone successfully overcome a similar condition?


GS

My son has developed a fear of driving which I think stems from the fact he was in a major coach crash while on a school trip at the age of 8. He was fine for 20 years but only in the last 10 years has the condition developed. He has tried hypnotherapy, taken medication and even seen a psychologist but eventually had to give up a brilliant job as a chartered accountant with one of the big 4 accountancy firms because his job required him to drive to clients. The odd thing is he can drive on non duel carriageways providing he has a passenger alongside. It sounds ridiculous but these fears are very real and can impact hugely on a person's life.

As to the pilot it does appear the tribunal's verdict is odd as the person in question cannot be fit to perform the full range of responsibilities - just like my son except that he resigned voluntarily.

XFool wrote:Pilot scared of flying was unfairly sacked, tribunal rules

Telegraph

But the decision isn't as "odd" as the headline might sound:

An employment judge has now ruled he should have been offered alternative roles or at least an opportunity to discuss his case with group chief operating officer Luke Farajallah.

...

The judge said that Mr Guest had never been given the opportunity to meet Mr Farajallah, who made the decision to sack him.

He noted: "It is a basic principle of natural justice and of fairness that an employee should have the chance to address the relevant decision-maker. Here, the claimant had no such opportunity."

...

Upholding his claim, he said that had Flybe followed the correct procedure there was a two thirds chance they would have sacked him fairly.

Anyone successfully overcome a similar condition?

I was flying from Italy to the UK on my own with our two young sons (5 & 7) via Ryanair c. 2002/2003 in turbulence so scary that people were clinging on to the seats, some even crying. I'd flown quite a lot and had never known a situation like it! The stupid pilot didn't even make an announcement about the plane going all over the place and the stewards had to be strapped into their seats. On landing, (how?) we had to wait 30 minutes for the stairs to be attached since the plane was being buffeted by wind and rocking too much. For the next five years I was prescribed valium for flights and, with my aunt's advice, had a few drinks, which helped. Today, no problem at all.

Approx 8 years ago I started to feel 'strange' when driving on motorways. Knees shaking, feeling faint. I assumed too much coffee or low blood sugar or high blood pressure etc and experimented to find out what was causing it. I'd always liked driving! Once did almost 24 hours non-stop France to Poland. Then I suddenly started feeling terrified of driving through tunnels or driving fast. It was getting really silly! Putting two and two together with plenty of internet searches, I realised that I was having 'Anxiety attacks'. Suddenly it made sense, BUT I still found it difficult to believe. Then I talked to a doctor friend who made me understand. There was a lot going on in my life and our family that was troubling me and causing these weird effects, though subconsciously. At that time, our youngest was having serious learning problems at school. Our 'incredibly intelligent but %$@!! lazy' eldest was being a real pain in the proverbial, work was stressful and I only realised the link when giving our eldest a lift to the airport and almost stopping the car due to my knees shaking. How this stuff by-passes the logical part of the brain and manages to cause such mayhem is a mystery.

But these days, everything's fine. Both kids grown up, doing well and knees quiet as a dormouse.
Steve

I've not suffered it myself, but I've witnessed it.

Sitting terrified in the passenger seat, as lady driver drifts all over the place. Finally she pulls up and admits she can't go on: panic attack. No explanation of why. I end up driving the rest of the way: not happy about it, but it's a lot less scary.

Mike88 wrote:My son has developed a fear of driving which I think stems from the fact he was in a major coach crash while on a school trip at the age of 8. He was fine for 20 years but only in the last 10 years has the condition developed. He has tried hypnotherapy, taken medication and even seen a psychologist but eventually had to give up a brilliant job as a chartered accountant with one of the big 4 accountancy firms because his job required him to drive to clients. The odd thing is he can drive on non duel carriageways providing he has a passenger alongside. It sounds ridiculous but these fears are very real and can impact hugely on a person's life.

I developed a fear of cars/driving in my 20s, so I've never had a full licence, and I can only tolerate short car journeys.
Trains are fine, not keen on coaches. No obvious cause.