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Surge in enquiries to India's only centre for treating

fear of

flying

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Crash visuals, non-stop TV coverage spiking anxiety,

experts say

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Travel agents say ticket bookings have dropped since crash

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Some anxious fliers filtering out Boeing ( BA ) options

By Hritam Mukherjee and Dhwani Pandya

BENGALURU, June 25 (Reuters) - Retired Air Force officer

Dinesh K. has seen a surge in demand for his $500 therapy course

to help people overcome their fear of flying since Air India

flight 171 crashed moments after take-off from Ahmedabad two

weeks ago.

Dinesh uses a combination of flight simulation and

counselling at his Cockpit Vista centre for "fear of flying

solutions" in Bengaluru, the only one in India. The centre has

received more than 100 enquiries since the disaster, compared to

a previous average of about ten a month.

"Fear of flying is typically to do with things happening on

an aeroplane - the sounds, motion, vibrations ... exposure

therapy is the only solution," Dinesh, 55, told Reuters during a

tour of the facility where he demonstrated how cockpit controls

relate to movements that often worry passengers.

The centre has a simulator for a Boeing ( BA ) and Cessna plane to

help people experience how landings and takeoffs appear from the

cockpit and understand that not every vibration or sound during

a flight signals danger.

WhatsApp messages Dinesh received, and shared with Reuters,

showed individuals complaining about "losing confidence" after

the crash while others said it was "too hard on the brain".

A chilling 59-second CCTV clip showing the crash of the

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which killed 260 people, has been

widely shared on social media and TV channels since the June 12

accident, which aviation and mental health experts said had led

to an unusually high number of counselling requests.

Some travellers are becoming more choosy in selecting their

airline and aircraft - Boeing ( BA ) or Airbus - while others are so

anxious they are taking more drastic steps by rescheduling or

cancelling their air travel plans altogether.

"I am filtering on the basis of not having to fly a Boeing ( BA )

... I'm bloody terrified currently, and I don't want to get back

on a flight," said London-based Indian marketing consultant

Nidhi Bhatia, 25, who flew to Mumbai in an Air India Boeing 777

plane a day before the Ahmedabad crash.

Unlike India, Western countries have many more formal setups

to help people tackle their fear of flying, in its most intense

form known as aerophobia, as fatal crashes often spike worries

among travellers across the world.

Days after an American Airlines plane collided with a

helicopter in Washington, killing more than 60 people, a survey

of 1,000 U.S. consumers by research firm Prodege found 55% of

travellers had higher anxiety, while 38% had reconsidered or

cancelled travel plans.

Google Trends data shows searches for the term "flying fear"

in India hit "peak popularity" a day after the Air India crash,

and the phrase was still being widely searched.

'DEBILITATING ANXIETY'

Flying is typically seen as a safe mode of transport,

and crashes during takeoff are especially rare. The

International Civil Aviation Organization said there were 1.87

accidents per million departures in 2023, its most recent annual

air safety report.

Of the nine hull loss accidents without fatalities recorded

in 2024, only two occurred on take off, according to Airbus'

website.

The airport CCTV recording from Ahmedabad shows the Air

India plane rose to a height of 650 feet (198.12 m) after it

took off, but suddenly lost altitude, crashing in a fireball

into a nearby building -- all within 60 seconds.

The disturbing footage was a key cause of the panic among

Indian travellers, five mental health experts said.

People were seeking help because they had developed insomnia

or become obsessed with flight updates, they said.

Others were scared of letting their loved ones travel on

planes, complaining of "debilitating anxiety" for their

relatives in transit "to an extent where they have been unable

to focus on their daily chores" because they are constantly

checking messages to see if they have landed, said psychologist

Pankti Gohel.

In Bengaluru, the $500 Cockpit Vista course is spread over

14 hours and led by Dinesh, who oversaw ground operations during

the undeclared 1999 Kargil war between India and Pakistan and

retired as an Air Force wing commander in 2014. He also offers

to accompany worried clients on the first flights they take

after completing the course.

Since the crash, many travellers fear travelling with Air

India and are seeking alternative airlines, according to Jaya

Tours, a mid-sized booking agency in Mumbai.

Taken over by the Tata Group from the Indian government in

2022, Air India continues to face criticism for poor service and

an outdated fleet. This year, the airline was also warned about

flying three Airbus planes which lacked mandatory inspection

checks on escape slides.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators, which represents

more than 1,600 agents, said overall flight bookings dropped by

15-20% soon after the Air India crash, while 30-40% of booked

tickets were also cancelled.

"We are getting very unusual questions about aircraft type.

Earlier passengers didn't really care about what kind of

aircraft it is," said the group's president, Ravi Gosain.

"People don't want to hear about Dreamliners."