Had they been feeling calm when they got on the plane the journey, even with the occasional anxious moment, would not have affected them. However severe stress, or prolonged moderate stress, 'sensitises' us and lowers our coping ability. Events, which we would normally take in our stride, now become overwhelming. This is one of the common ways in which people, especially pressured business travellers, develop fear of flying. It is not surprising that people develop a fear of flying as a result of the extensive and intensive coverage that the media gives to air crashes.
Air crashes are usually shocking events with dozens or hundreds of deaths.
And many people do have a morbid fascination with air disasters. Why or how we develop a fear or a phobia of flying is interesting - but unimportant. And irrelevant in terms of getting rid of the fear. What is relevant is to discover what you can do to gain or regain the confidence to fly with ease and comfort. And this requires practical how-to methods rather than analysis of the causes.