--- title: "Fear of Flying: What Helps When You're on the Plane" description: "Fear of flying peaks at takeoff, in turbulence and with every new sound. What helps on the plane, from slow breathing to steady noise over the engines." url: https://lissa.app/blog/fear-of-flying/ language: en author: "Lissa Editorial" published: 2026-11-03 updated: 2026-11-03 publisher: "LISSA LLC" --- # Fear of Flying: What Helps When You're on the Plane Fear of flying peaks at takeoff, in turbulence and with every new sound. What helps on the plane, from slow breathing to steady noise over the engines. Fear of flying usually peaks at a few moments: the door closing, the engines winding up for takeoff, the first bump, a thunk under the floor that nobody else seems to notice. On the plane, what helps is a slow breath, a steady noise over the engines, and knowing what each sound is. More than [25 million adults in the US](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22431-aerophobia-fear-of-flying) have it. ## What flight anxiety feels like It often starts well before the airport. Days out, you catch yourself checking the forecast for the departure city or replaying the takeoff in your head. Cleveland Clinic notes that [the anticipation is often as hard as the flight](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22431-aerophobia-fear-of-flying), and that most people with a fear of flying aren't afraid of the plane crashing. They're afraid of how anxious they'll feel on board. On the plane, the body takes over: - A pounding heart, sweaty hands, shaking - Nausea or an upset stomach - Short, shallow breathing, or feeling dizzy - Gripping the armrest through the climb - Hearing every sound and reading meaning into it Texas Health lists that last one, [hypersensitivity to sounds and movements](https://www.texashealth.org/areyouawellbeing/Behavioral-Health/Nervous-Flyer-How-to-Deal-with-Flight-Anxiety) during the flight, among the symptoms. A chime, a change in engine pitch, the landing gear coming down, and your mind goes straight to the worst explanation. ## Why the plane sounds so frightening A cabin is loud. Researchers who measured [200 flights on six aircraft types](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29545611/) found a median level of 83.5 decibels. Tom Bunn, an airline captain who became a therapist for nervous flyers, names [low-frequency sound as one of two main in-flight triggers](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/conquer-fear-of-flying/201809/two-causes-of-anxiety-low-frequency-sound-and-turbulence). The other is the drop you feel in turbulence. Low sounds are tied to danger, he writes, the way a growl is. For hours you sit inside a rumble you can't switch off, and every change in it grabs your attention. Lissa is coming soon. Join the waitlist and learn how to get Lissa Premium free at launch. [Get Early Access](https://lissa.app/get-started/?from=blog) ## What helps fear of flying on the plane ### Cover the engines with steady noise Noise-cancelling headphones work best on the sound that's loudest in the cabin. In lab measurements, active cancellation [took out sound between about 63 and 500 hertz](http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27053), the band where the engine drone sits, and almost nothing above 1,000. What gets through is the uneven part: voices, carts, chimes, the creaks. A steady noise played over it raises the floor those sounds have to clear, so fewer of them jump out at you. Brown noise works well here because its energy sits low, close to the engines, and it sounds like a deep, even rush. (If you're choosing between colors, here's [how brown and white noise differ](https://lissa.app/blog/brown-noise-vs-white-noise/).) Window Seat This is Window Seat, from Lissa: low brown noise over the engine's drone, with a slow Delta beat underneath for closing your eyes from the climb to the descent. The beat needs headphones. ### Listen to something while you wait Much of a flight is sitting strapped in and waiting, and anxious waiting has been studied. In a trial in Sunderland, England, [108 people facing an anxious wait](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16115248/) were split three ways. Two groups sat for 30 minutes with headphones on and their eyes closed, and the third had nothing to listen to. Anxiety fell 26% for those who heard a soundtrack with a slow binaural beat in it, 11% for the same soundtrack without the beat, and 4% for no sound at all. A 2025 review of [14 trials and 1,047 people](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41176178/) found anxiety lower with a binaural beat than with blank audio, though the trials varied a lot in how much. ### Slow your breathing It needs no headphones. Slowed to about six breaths a minute, the swing in your heart rate with each breath grows to its largest, and in one study [5 minutes of it did as much as 20](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8656666/). You don't need long. In a 2026 pilot study, [47 people did one minute of breathing](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42002307/) whenever a stressful moment hit during their normal day, and their anxiety fell further than in people who did nothing. Try it this way: 1. Breathe in for a count of four. 2. Breathe out slowly for a count of six. 3. Keep going until the wheels leave the ground, or the bump passes. That's the pace the 5-minute study used. ### Ground yourself with 5-4-3-2-1 When your thoughts start racing, name five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell and one you can taste. It [pulls your attention away from the anxious thoughts](https://www.texashealth.org/areyouawellbeing/Behavioral-Health/Nervous-Flyer-How-to-Deal-with-Flight-Anxiety) and back to the seat you're in. ### Learn what the noises are Most of the noises have a routine cause. The thump a few seconds after takeoff is the landing gear folding away. About a minute later the engines go quieter, which is a planned cut in thrust once the plane is climbing. A single or double chime is usually the cockpit signalling the cabin crew. On the way down, a rising whir is the flaps coming out, and a loud thunk is the gear lowering and locking. Turbulence feels like falling, and it isn't a sign of trouble. "Turbulence is a common event while flying and is rarely associated with any real danger or risk," Dr. Alyson Smith of Delta Air Lines told [Texas Health](https://www.texashealth.org/areyouawellbeing/Behavioral-Health/Nervous-Flyer-How-to-Deal-with-Flight-Anxiety). Injuries are very unlikely when your seatbelt is fastened, so keep it on whenever you're seated. It's always fine to tell the crew you're nervous when you board. ### Choose your seat on purpose Seats over the wing move the least in turbulence. An aisle seat helps if feeling trapped is your trigger, because you can stand up without asking anyone. ### Go easy on caffeine and alcohol Coffee speeds up your heart, which feels a lot like anxiety. A drink can seem like a shortcut, but alcohol doesn't reliably calm anxiety and can make it worse in the cabin. And if your doctor has prescribed something for flying, [try it at home first](https://www.texashealth.org/areyouawellbeing/Behavioral-Health/Nervous-Flyer-How-to-Deal-with-Flight-Anxiety), never for the first time in the air. ## Set up your sound before you board Do this the night before, so there's nothing to figure out at the gate. 1. Download your sound while you still have Wi-Fi. 2. Turn on Airplane Mode and check that it still plays. 3. Charge your headphones and turn on noise cancellation. 4. Set the volume just loud enough to cover the engine drone, and no louder. 5. If you want a movie or a podcast too, play the soundscape under it. In Lissa, turn on Mix Audio With Other Apps and the noise keeps covering the engines while you watch. 6. Take one earbud out for the safety briefing, then put it back for taxi. Start the sound at the gate, while you still feel calm, so it's already playing when the engines wind up. On the [flying page](https://lissa.app/flying/), hear Window Seat, Cruising Altitude and Smooth Air: one for sleeping through the flight, one for reading or working, one for the takeoff and turbulence you brace for. The one you'd fly with is yours free to keep. The research behind them is in [Seatbelt Sign](https://lissa.app/research/fear-of-flying/). ## Questions people ask ### How do I get over my fear of flying for good? Therapy is the main treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy changes how you think about flying, and exposure therapy brings you closer to air travel a step at a time, according to [Cleveland Clinic](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22431-aerophobia-fear-of-flying). Some US cities have group programs at airports that end with a real flight. ### What are the symptoms of flight anxiety? A racing heart, sweating, shaking, nausea, shortness of breath and dizziness are the common ones. Many people also feel on alert to every sound and movement on board, and start dreading the trip days ahead. ### Why did I suddenly develop flight anxiety? People can fly calmly for years and then develop it. It's most common between 17 and 34, years of big changes such as graduation, marriage or a new baby. News stories about crashes can set it off too. ### Does brown noise help on a plane? It can. Its energy sits low, close to the engine drone, so it covers the rumble and the smaller sounds on top of it. Keep it just loud enough to cover the cabin. ### Do noise-cancelling headphones help with flight anxiety? They take out much of the low drone, which Tom Bunn names as one of the two main in-flight triggers. Play a steady noise through them to cover what's left. ### What can I take to calm my anxiety when flying? Ask your doctor whether medication suits you, and try anything new on the ground first. Cleveland Clinic notes that medication isn't very effective for managing a fear of flying in the long term. You can try slow breathing and steady noise on your next flight either way. Lissa is coming soon. Join the waitlist and learn how to get Lissa Premium free at launch. [Get Early Access](https://lissa.app/get-started/?from=blog) For the full research, read [Seatbelt Sign](https://lissa.app/research/fear-of-flying/) about cabin noise and anxious waiting, [Street Ready](https://lissa.app/research/preop-anxiety/) about the headphone trials, and [The Rate, the Ratio, and the Hold](https://lissa.app/research/breathe/) about slow breathing. *Lissa is not a medical device; talk with a clinician about any health concern.*