Identification of features associated with flying phobia in aircrew

The psychological and physiological features of 20 aircrew consecutively referred for treatment of anxiety symptoms when flying were compared with a matched control group of uncomplaining aircrew. There were no significant differences between the two groups on psychometric tests of personality, though there were differences in skin conductance; the phobics had a higher rate of spontaneous fluctuation, and habituated less to a repeated auditory tone. More of the phobic group worried about their wives and acknowledged childhood and other adulthood phobias; more had a family history of an episode perhaps best described as flying trauma. Many were on an overseas posting when symptoms presented. These few features could correctly classify 85 per cent of the subjects into the phobic or control group. This type of phobic aircrew index' now requires to be validated prospectively for its predictive value.