Pteromerhanophobia

Not sure how to call this. I would have called it flightophobia, but the english language for whatever reason has decided to call it Pteromerhanophobia  (not even sure how to pronounce it) or aerophobia. It’s the fear of flights. I used to look forward to flight travel. But it changed during my trip back from Romania. My first flight from Bucharest to Vienna was uneventful. Vienna to Delhi was a 9 hour flight and it changed my outlook for flight travel. Within the first 45 mins of being in the air we went through a violent turbulence and the flight dropped suddenly (not sure how many feet). The people inside started to panic and the cries of “whats happening” started doing the rounds. This went on for 3 mins before the flight was under control. I don’t know how to explain that feeling. I was scared, but was clinging on to my seat as if it will save me. And I realized that the people inside with their hysteric reactions made me more nervous than the actual turbulence itself. All this while though, my neighbor was unflinching. I looked at him and he said, “Don’t worry, Lord Krishna is there”. I  thought to myself, “yes, I might see him soon J”. After that experience, whenever I had to travel in flight, I became nervous throughout the journey. I recently found out that even my son doesn’t like it. We had to travel last week to Chennai and he was all looking forward to travelling in flight. But, immediately after takeoff, he started saying “Daddy, I am scared, all the buildings are on the ground and we are up”. How can I tell him that I myself was very scared? I tried to put a brave front though and tried to calm him down. I have read a lot about turbulence and I know that it is not unsafe. But when I actually go through one, I have a feeling of not being in control and that leads to anxiety. Hopefully, I will be comfortable one day.

Two days after the travel, my son asked me “Daddy, you said the Gods are there on the sky, but you didn’t show anyone when we were on that flight"J.