I admit it, I am afraid to fly. And Im not alone, as many as 1 in 6 adults has at least some fears about flying. For me its definitely not a rational fear. In fact all my analytical and logical skills fly right out the window whenever I think about getting on a commercial plane. The most amazing part is that I grew up flying. My father owns a small plane and we would go flying every weekend.
In my preteen years I had an aborted takeoff during a commercial flight and while it didnt scare me at all during the event, when I later found out that it had made the local news I began to see that this was perhaps a bigger deal (it really wasnt but I was a preteen after all). I also began to recognize my own mortality and realized that I am a control freak and dont enjoy the thought of putting my life in the hands of pilots I dont know.
However, Im gradually working my way out of my fears and back into a state of mind that is not afraid. Its taking me a lot of time, but I make progress everyday.
My first technique is to get a large inside picture of a commercial plane (preferably one that Ill be flying in soon) and make it the background image of my computer...