TRAVELLING BY AIR makes many people very nervous and in the aftermath of a horrific incident, fears and tensions are heightened.

It is something the Germanwings pilots are very aware of a week on from the French Alps crash which killed 150 people.

Last week, we heard about the captain who promised his passengers he would get them to their destination safely.

And yesterday, Irishman Hugh Roche Kelly shared his story about taking a flight from Berlin to Paris.

The pilot came into the cabin so that his passengers could meet him and look him in the eye. According to Roche Kelly, there was comfort in that – even when he didn’t know he needed such comfort.

Here’s what he had to say about the flight on Twitter:

So, I was on a Germanwings flight this morning (Berlin-Paris). It hadn’t even occurred to me to think about that before I got on the plane, but there was a tense vibe: the crew were on edge, some passengers were definitely more nervous than normal… Once I was actually on board, and looked at the crew door, it was all too easy to imagine how horrific the time before that crash would have been.

I was thinking about what kind of a response a company should make to something like this. Do you ask everyone to carry on as normal? With utmost professionalism and a stiff upper lip?

Then, our pilot came out and made almost his normal pre-flight speech, except he did standing in the front row. He spoke (at length, in 3 languages) about how it was a difficult and strange time for him and for all the cabin crew, how they still all love doing their job, and how they’re thankful that they still have passengers coming onto their planes.

Mostly though, he said he just wanted to come out and stand in front of everyone, and let all the passengers on his flight have a moment of eye contact with him, and for us to meet him and for him to meet us.

I can’t know, of course, if making that speech was a personal decision, or if it was something that was agreed on, but anyone listening could tell it was a difficult thing to do- to stand in front of 150 more-nervous-than-they-really-needed-to-be people and say “everything’s going to be fine, because I am going to look after it,” and I can’t help but have enormous respect for him.

So, well done that man.

More: Germanwings co-pilot researched suicide methods and cockpit doors

Read: Germanwings pilot makes emotional speech in cabin to reassure passengers

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