Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Kivalliq (May 30/01) - There are things we do to pass the time as we hurtle through the skies in metal tubes with wings -- things that make the trip more pleasant and less terrifying.
Some of us sew. Others take a nip or two from the passing beverage cart. Oftentimes a book catches our fancy and increasingly, out comes the laptop computer or the pile of long overdue paperwork.
There are those of us who even routinely praise the Lord the moment the plane's wheels kiss the tarmac.
Basically, whatever gets you through the flight is all right.
In Sam Itkiliak's neck of the tundra -- Baker Lake, that is -- it was all a matter of getting used to travelling on planes. A producer with the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation in the Kivalliq, Itkiliak's job makes him hop on a plane sometimes 20 times a year. He's already boarded two aircraft this year.
"In the beginning, I really used to sweat and blush, thinking the plane might crash," said Itkiliak.
"I have no worries today."
Now playing cards and reading books hold his attention en route. And, other than severe turbulence and gas leaking from an engine, he hasn't experienced anything too traumatic when crossing the tundra's airspace.
All that said, the Baker Lake man still hasn't completely lost his ability to panic in the air. "I still feel a certain amount of fear, but not as much as before," he said.
A Rankin Inlet resident, nervous about giving her name as well as flying, said she found taking her shoes off eased her into the flight. "I just try to relax and it goes away," she said.
She also likes to pick up her sewing, read and do crossword puzzles. And when things get really bad -- as they did on a flight from Churchill, Man., a few years ago -- she turns to the Almighty for assistance.
"It made me really scared and I just started praying," she said. "There were so many people and they started screaming and I just started praying. I didn't know what else to do."
Twenty years of experience on airplanes has cured Repulse Bay's John Ivalutanar of his fear. It's been so long that he felt frightened that he can't even remember how he got over the original sense of dread.
"I think I chewed gum or something."
