It's not the thought of dying or getting hurt that scares me, not by a
long shot. It is the thought of my girls growing w/o a father or a
crippled one, that's scary.

I have the same thoughts many times before I fly. I'll go kiss my kids
goodbye and the fleeting thought will run through my head "is this the
last time?".

Gee, I thought I was the only one who had thoughts like that. Of course, as
often as not, my kids are *with* me when I fly, which REALLY opens you up to
morbid thoughts and feelings of overwhelming responsibility.

I remember when they were real little, and we'd have to strap them in their
car seats in the back seat, and I would wonder to myself how in the world
would I EVER get them out in the event of a crash. Post-crash fires were
(and are) my greatest nightmare, but at least now they're self-mobile, and
could get out in a hurry under their own steam. Back then, strapped in car
seats, they would have been doomed.

Of course, you start to ponder stuff like that, and you can drive yourself
crazy -- but where does "prudent emergency planning" cross the line into
"paranoia"? It's a pretty thin line.

Morbid, I know and I also know that I'm MUCH more likely to have a stroke
or have a car wreck on the way to the airport, but we're talking about
non-logical emotions. I'm sure it's all in the comfort level.

This has been hashed and re-hashed here many times, and the verdict is this:
Unless you're flying on an airliner, that's really not true. According to
the statistical gurus on this newsgroup, private flying carries with it
about the same statistical probability of having an accident as does riding
a motorcycle -- which is MUCH higher than driving your car.

But that's not about to stop us from living the dream. Knowledge is power,
and that knowledge just makes Mary and me *that* much more cautious when we
fly. Hopefully that gives us the edge we need.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"