Aerophobia usually doesn’t have a specific cause. It’s very rare for aerophobia to stem from a traumatic experience on a flight. Specific triggers might include:

News stories about terrorism, crashes or violence on airplanes.

Take-off and landing.

Thoughts about fire or illness spreading through the plane.

Turbulence (bumps during the flight).

Other phobias can also make aerophobia worse:

Acrophobia (fear of heights).

Agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house or not being able to escape from a place or get help if something goes wrong).

Anthropophobia (fear of people).

Claustrophobia (fear of crowded, confined spaces).

Mysophobia (germaphobia, or fear of germs).