Rona Dougal: Taking plunge is no cure for fear of flying By RONA DOUGAL Published on Wednesday 4 July 2012 00:00 NOW the schools have broken up I'm sure many of you will be getting ready to fly off to sunnier climes for your summer holidays. This week, airports around the country will be experiencing their busiest week of the year. But I will not be among the crowds queuing up to board a plane. I have a confession to make - I am terrified of flying. And I know many people are. To me it seems a very rational fear. I mean, what is normal about sitting in a metal tube hurtling through the air 35,000 ft above the earth sipping (or throwing back in my case) a gin and tonic? The first time I ever flew was when I went to Italy with my friend Aileen. I was 15 years old and quite impressionable, so when her father turned round from the seat in front just before take off and said " You know if this plane goes down, we're all going to die," those words stuck with me. However, I bit the bullet and didn't let my fear deter me from travelling the world in my 20s. In India, I was actually relieved to get on the Boeing 747 after risking my life on the terrifying roads there. It's the tiny little planes I'm not so keen on though, and working as Scotland correspondent for Sky News for 15 years meant I did a fair amount of travelling to far flung Scottish islands. On one occasion, I had to fly to Shetland as the island had been snowed in. Sky had chartered a five-seater plane to get me up there. There was a snowstorm and the plane was being buffeted about by the very strong winds. I saw a light ahead of us and screamed at the pilot that there was another plane coming towards us. "It's a star," he replied grimly. Another time I had to go to London with my long-suffering colleague for a meeting. What's that noise? I yelped at hearing what I thought was buckling metal on take off. James rolled his eyes, "I think it's the cutlery tray, Rona." But its not all been sheer terror and blind panic. Eleven years ago I was part of the reporting team following Charles Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats 2001 general election campaign. Like the other parties, the Lib Dems had chartered their own plane to fly them around the UK. I was on board the stretch to Inverness and, because it was a private hire, we were allowed to wander around and go into the cockpit. Not long before landing, I went for a visit. Two very young pilots greeted me. How long have you been qualified I enquired, "We're both on work experience," they replied cheerfully. They were joking (or at least I hope they were) and let me sit in the jump seat between them, instructing me to press various buttons as we touched down. I got a round of applause from Charles Kennedy and the rest of the hacks as I emerged triumphant from the cockpit afterwards. I have had numerous trips in helicopters too. I spent one great afternoon on an RAF search-and-rescue exercise on a scorching hot summer day. Hovering above the Arran ferry, setting down on random hills to do a piece to camera was all great fun - until the pilot cut the engine as part of his training and the helicopter briefly plummeted to earth. I don't know if my stomach has ever fully recovered. I have thought about getting some help over the years. But whenever I consider those fear of flying courses, I can't help thinking "oh, the irony" if anything were to happen. A friend , trying to be helpful, said I had more chance of winning the lottery than being involved in a plane crash. My response to that was to stop playing the lottery. I haven't flown for over two years now after a particularly hair-raising flight to the Alps. It wasn't just me, everyone was terrified. The woman in front was genuflecting and sobbing quietly as she hugged her child. Strangely I felt quite calm (it's those gin and tonics) and I even thought about offering the crew some assistance - well, I am practically a trained pilot remember, with about five minutes" flying time under my belt. It's the Highlands for our holidays again this year. But in this economic climate staycations are all the rage, aren't they?