Fear much?

I don't think that I have ever mentioned what my worst fear is. My mum is afraid of heights, it's funny how she says that her "knees go soft" whenever she's up on a high building or crossing over a bridge. My good friend Kate has a fear of falling whenever she's up on a platform or walking down from a flight of stairs.

Well, mine is - sitting on an airplane. Every single time before I board a plane, I say a looooong prayer which begins from the check in counter, to the cafe, to the waiting room before I board the aircraft.

The moment I step onto the plane, my heart thumps so hard it's not funny. I read or watch the safety instructions very carefully, before I shut my eyes when we take off. In the meantime, my heart rate will probably go up twice as much. My mind eases when the seat belt sign goes off, I feel even better when food is served and I get to watch a movie to keep myself occupied and my mind from thinking otherwise.

Don't get me started when there's turbulence during the journey. My heart races as though I'm competing for the Grand Pix and I feel like I'm about to cry depending on how bumpy the journey gets. Ever since I was young, mum constantly reminds me it's because the plane has to fight the clouds which up to today, I convince myself that whenever I travel on my own. Although at the back of my mind, I still think that clouds are soft cotton candy little things and maybe there's something wrong with the plane instead.

I'm being silly, but you can't help what you're afraid of.

The recent plane crash in Libya is not exactly what I wanted to happen before I'm scheduled to fly back to Malaysia in 3 weeks. News like this gets me nervous and I find it very disturbing.

But thanks to BBC, here's what I discovered this morning;

* Life-threatening accidents occur once every 5.7 million departures

* Almost 56% survive such an event

* Excluding accidents in which everyone dies, more than 71% survive

* 22% of 459 people in a survey could correctly identify the number of exits and the fact they vary in size on short-haul aircraft

Now I get people telling me that car crashes happens way more often then plane crashes do. OK, FAIR ENOUGH but my logic is that in a car crash, you are in control of the wheel. Meaning that the chances of slowing down and preventing a crash is in your hands. Whereas in a plane, you just sit and screaaaaam! Right? No? I don't know. And to be honest, I never want to find out!

Out!