How to deal with my fear of flying?

There’s more to the reason why I find it so terrifying to fly. It was November of last year when my father crashed his small Cessna plane in the mountains of New Mexico. He was an incredible pilot but he got caught in a storm and lost his bearings (this is at least all we’ve been able to find out about the incident).

After his death I couldn’t even look at planes without feeling both intense fear and grief. I probably wouldn’t have even considered getting on what I consider to be a death trap if I hadn’t met the love of my life. My SO and I are in a long distance relationship between Texas and California and we decided to try and at least see each other every three months (school and work providing). Its my turn now to visit my SO and I have already bought the ticket and have started packing my bag for the trip but I keep pausing…the thought of getting on that plane is feeling me with this deep dread that I can’t seem to shake.

If anyone in the fluther community has ever dealt with a situation like this..please help. I need to do this but I’m petrified.

Thanks guys.