Whether you’re a nervous flyer or cool, calm and collected sky-high, plane turbulence is never a pleasant experience.
Though it’s part of the process, a bumpy ride can easily make passengers downright nervous.
A pilot has recommended one simple trick that can help to calm you down mid-flight.
The US Today Show visited a turbulence simulator as part of the FearlessFlight programme.
Pilot Captain Ron Nielsen teaches participants how to cure their fear of flying.
One of his tips recommended picking up a pen and paper when the turbulence starts.
Captain Nielsen advised his Today Show recruit to write down her name repeatedly with her non-dominant hand.
He said: “Put [a] pen in the opposite hand than what you normally use, and write your name. Just keep writing your name.
“It first causes her to focus extra-hard on what she’s doing, because she doesn’t normally write with her other hand … and not on the turbulence.
“And the second thing is, it’s actually crossing over her motor function in her brain, using the other side of her brain from what she would normally do. We’re disrupting the thinking.”
The participant found the trick helped to calm her nerves during the simulated turbulence as it distracted her from the bumpy ride.
Captain Neilson recommended another simple trick using just a drinking straw.
