Flight or Fright: 17 Turbulent Tales

“Air travel is the perfect metaphor for the loss of control.”

Turbulence feels different once you realize a tiny mechanical flaw is actually just fate waiting. Everyone on that plane is suddenly bonded by the same thin piece of metal.

Joe Hill makes you feel that specific dread of a small plane engine stuttering. It sounds like a heart skipping a beat. You realize how much we trust machines we don't understand.

“There's a man on the wing of the plane!”

Richard Matheson reminds me why I always look out the window at night. Seeing something impossible on the wing is scarier than the crash itself. It is the isolation that gets you.

Flying over the ocean makes the world feel empty. You think about how easy it is to just vanish into the blue. It makes the cabin feel like a tiny, fragile bubble.