Fear of flying keeps Indian grounded for 13 years

DUBAI: An Indian woman in Bahrain has not been home for 13 years because of her fear of flying.

The aerophobic 43-year-old woman, who has not been named, told the Gulf Daily News that the last time she flew was 13 years ago when she and her husband took a flight from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain.

"I flew for the very first time just after I got married 24 years ago," the woman, who teaches dance at a school in Bahrain, said.

"It was a flight from Chennai, where we were settled, to Delhi. I was scared to fly even then but I managed to do it, probably because I was younger and braver," she said.

The woman and her husband later flew to Saudi Arabia after her husband got posted there.

"Then we came to Bahrain around 13 years ago by flight and that was the last time I took one," she said.

"My children were just 10 and 11 then and it was for their further education that we chose to come to Bahrain. But the problem just became worse after I saw a couple of movies that showed planes crashing."

The woman hoped making her condition public would result in finding someone with a similar condition so that they could sort out the problem together.

"My husband used to fly to India once every year to visit relatives and friends," she said. "But the children and I never did."

In December last year, the family had booked air tickets for a trip to India but the woman returned from the airport overcome by her fear of flying.

"My husband and I cancelled our tickets, though our children travelled to their home for the very first time after 13 years," she said.

"I know we have to leave Bahrain for good one day, but I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”