LACK OF CONTROL: Compared to driving, flying is extraordinarily safe – but why doesn’t it feel that way? “Driving gives people a steering wheel, a brake pedal and the belief that their skill can protect them. Flying asks passengers to place control in the hands of pilots, airlines, regulators, air traffic controllers and a complex technical system.”

One of my colleagues who used to fly B-52s hates flying as a passenger. I feel the opposite: If the plane crashes, it won’t be my fault. “Duty is as heavy as a mountain; death is as light as a feather.”

Or as one of my friends says, people will be afraid to fly in a 777, but will climb onto a Ferris wheel that was put together in a grocery store parking lot in three hours by a 25 year old meth head.