Gifts from a Stranger
Why do you reject that which you must know? Take up the work at hand and do not prevaricate within yourself. You are stronger than you know. Correction. You are stronger than you allow yourself to realize. - LVX
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What in us needs to control so badly we cannot trust that the pilot will safely land our plane?
In some cases, this may be less about trust in the pilot, and more about lack of control when faced with a force of nature seemingly bigger than oneself apparently pitted against technology that one does not really understand. People usually recognize that the pilot is not causing the turbulence, but they often don't know anything about aircraft engineering and aerodynamics, and just how over-engineered planes must be so that they can deal with things like turbulence safely.
Also, in some cases, learning to control something can do a lot to assuage the fear. I've heard of people who were afraid to fly and took flight lessons to overcome the fear. (I'm not suggesting becoming a pilot or even going so far as solo. A few lessons may be enough, and they're similar in hourly cost to therapy. I'm also not suggesting an all-out frontal assault on fear as per G. Gordon Liddy, rather working with fear with compassion, as an ally, if the person is capable of doing so.)
When I took my first flight lesson, takeoff was smooth, I took the controls, and it felt wonderful. At least until I went through a layer of light chop and promptly thought the wings were going to tear off and I was going to die. It took a few lessons to get used to the sensations. Further study taught me the difference between harmless turbulence and serious stuff (e.g. thunderstorms, microbursts, wake turbulence on takeoff and landing). Flight instructors are experts at working with people who have some fear of turbulence; it's very common. Now, on airline flights, turbulence is just a minor annoyance for me.
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