Samantha DiPrato, who describes herself as a “nervous flyer,” was feeling especially anxious about traveling back to school in Virginia from New York City last weekend.
Her flight was scheduled just days after two separate plane crashes (one in Washington, D.C., and one in Philadelphia) resulted in dozens of fatalities. As DiPrato awaited a delayed takeoff, she looked out the plane window and found an unexpected source of comfort.
Shuffling through the snow, a crew member was spelling out a message: “Safe Flight.” Unsure if anyone else on board noticed, DiPrato began recording the gesture, which has now amassed millions of views on TikTok.
“That Delta employee really did help [me] realize that everything will be OK, and that there’s kindness and humanity,” said DiPrato, a University of Lynchburg student. “People are scared right now and they’re just trying to help out.”
DiPrato’s TikTok post is part of a genre of flight anxiety-related videos that have become more widespread on social media in the past few weeks, with users documenting recent encounters with flight crew members who have offered extra relief to help curb their fears.
Seven people, including a person in a car, were killed when an air ambulance carrying six crashed near a mall in northeast Philadelphia on Jan. 31. That crash came just days after 64 people aboard a commercial airliner died after it collided with a military helicopter midair near Reagan Washington National Airport.
Many who have been posting their fear-of-flying videos to TikTok say their anxiety has recently reached an “all time high.” Such fears are not new, according to some experts, but can be heightened in the wake of devastating news.
“It’s very normal for all of us to have anxiety and fear, particularly around very tragic and traumatic events,” said Lorenzo Norris, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at George Washington School of Medicine.
One thing that can help with the anxiety: “Just being able to be a calm voice of reassurance,” Norris said. On some flights, that sense of calm has come from pilots, flight attendants and other airline staff.
“Just please know that my first officer and our flight attendants and myself place your safety and responsibility of carrying you to Miami to your families or vacations or your meetings at the highest level,” a pilot is heard saying in one TikTok video, which has been viewed over 11 million times. “I have no higher calling than carefully and professionally transporting you today.”
“I don’t know if any of you guys heard, but we did lose co-workers and friends last night. So please, please, please have compassion as you’re flying today. We’re doing our best,” another pilot is heard saying over the intercom in a different TikTok video, which has amassed 400,000 views. “We showed up to work because we love what we do, and we’re here to go ahead and make this the safest journey for you possible.”
Janelle Rupkalvis, a full-time travel content creator, addressed the tragedies and shared plane crash statistics on her page to help bring some comfort during an “emotionally heavy” time.
“Airline crashes are rare, and we have to remember that in the face of this tragedy,” said Rupkalvis, who takes around 60 flights a year.
In one of her videos, she films a pilot who left the cockpit to address those on the plane directly in a preflight announcement. She said she hopes her videos remind audiences that airline employees are not just professionals, they are humans too.
“Everyone in the industry is so well trained,” Rupkalvis added. “And these pilots want to get home, these crews want to get home to their loved ones just as much as you do.”
Commercial airline pilot Peter Cappio, who runs a service dedicated to helping travelers overcome flight anxiety, is among a handful of experts who have been responding to flyers’ questions in TikTok videos.
Cappio, who goes by pilotpete.fly on TikTok, said he’s seen an uptick in phone calls since the recent crashes. Many callers, he said, have experienced flight anxiety in the past and are now experiencing heightened emotions surrounding travel. Still, Cappio’s approach to piloting will remain the same: He pretends his mom, who is a nervous flyer, is on his plane.
“I like to let people know what’s going on, and I’ve always used that for every single flight I’ve ever taken,” Cappio said. “So I have treated the flights and the anxious flyers the same as before the accident, and I continue to do it after the accident.”
As a professional pilot of over 14 years, Cappio hopes to remind people that “flying is the safest form of transportation before this accident, [and] continually will be the safest form of transportation after this accident.” On his flights, through his business and on his social media platforms, this is a message he continues to spread.
“Helping people fly calmer is just exactly that: reassuring them that flying is still extremely safe,” he said. “Look, it’s scary. I was heartbroken, and an emotion of fear came over me when I heard about the news. However, that emotion isn’t reality.”
This story first appeared on chof360.com. More from NBC News:
