Video: Warwickshire war hero's flying fear after emergency landing cured by hypnosis

After suffering panic attacks every time he stepped foot on an aircraft, Paul Maclean now can’t wait to get strapped in after just one hypnotherapy session.

Paul, 40, who served in the Iraq War, was used to flying around the world while serving as a signaller in the army.

But his life changed following a frightening ordeal on board a military plane in India 20 years ago.

The dad-of-six, from Nuneaton, said: “I never flew anywhere when I was younger and only went on holiday in Scotland and England.

“When I joined the army aged 16, my unit was nicknamed the 'Globe Trotters' because we went everywhere.

“My first flight was to Canada on a Hercules with a Land Rover strapped in next to me.

“I didn’t really like it but it didn’t phase me. I went on a few flights after that and it didn’t bother me, I just got on with it.

“My phobia was triggered after I went to India on an exercise.

“During the flight back to the UK I felt something wasn’t right and then I saw the loadie come up and stand with the first officer.

“They looked concerned and then the captain came on the tannoy and told us he was going to have to do an emergency landing.

“It all happened so quickly, one minute we were flying level and then suddenly we went nose down and spiralled all the way down to Bulgaria.

“I remember the airport was next to the water and as I looked out the window it looked like we were going to crash into the water.

“I was just thinking to myself ‘This is it, you’re not going to survive this.’

"It took about ten minutes to land and it was the longest ten minutes of my life.

“I don’t remember much about the landing, other than it was a hard one and everyone around me looked as white as sheets.

“It turned out there had been a serious fuel leak in the plane and the pilot had to take drastic action and basically saved us all.”

After waiting ten hours for crews to fix the plane, Paul and his comrades boarded the aircraft but the drama did not end there.

Paul added: “It took nine or ten hours to fix and we were just glad to be on our way again.

“We had literally just taken off and were 20 seconds into the flight when there was a big bang and a massive ripple went through the plane.

“Again I thought to myself, ‘We’re not going to make it.’

“I held onto the front seat and wanted to get off. It put the fear of God into me.

“The captain came on and said it was an engine blow back but there was nothing to worry about.

"The rest of the flight was a blur but I just remember I'd never been more relieved when we finally touched down in England.

“From that day on I avoided flying which was really hard considering my job. My Commanding Officer advised me to go to the doctors.

“The doctor gave me six diazepam and told me to take it the next time I flew but when I took them before another flight they didn’t do anything to me.

“The three flights after that I gripped onto the seat in front of me and didn’t let go.

“I was praying to God and just sat petrified clinging onto the seat in front of me. It was exhausting. I knew I couldn't carry on like that."

Paul later left the military and started a family before seeking help to cure his phobia so he could enjoy taking his wife and children abroad on holiday.

His fear was so bad he even refused to fly to Oban in Scotland to see family, and would drive eight hours to get there instead.

He added: “Whenever we’d go on holiday I’d just book somewhere in Skegness. The idea of getting on a plane made me sick.

“Eventually my partner said she’d love us all to go on holiday abroad and I knew I had to do something to conquer my fear.

Paul contacted cognitive behavioural hypnotherapist David Kilmurry.

After a single hypnotherapy session Paul was able to fly to Iceland with Anna, 37, for their first foreign holiday on October 28 this year.

Paul said: “I had a two-hour session with David. For the first 40 minutes he talked to me and explained which part of my brain had this fear.

“He sort of changed my mindset. He told me to look at it as a positive thing. He was putting it into context. I felt good about it.

“The hypnosis feels like you’re melting into the chair. He went through getting on the plane, then I felt like I drifted off.

“About a week later we booked a flight to Iceland.

“I was a little bit anxious before the flight but then we got on the plane and I looked out the window.

“I wasn’t worried at all. I was just really, really happy about it.

“It was weird in a good way. I can’t wait for the next trip now.”

David, who has clinics in Harley Street and Coventry, said: “Aviophobia is very common, despite air travel being the statistically the safest form of transport.

"The fear of being locked in can be quite intense and even though airline staff are trained to help nervous passengers the ultimate phobic response is to avoid.

"Paul had more reason than most to fear flying after his many experiences in the air, most people with the phobia have never flown and have never met their families abroad in person for this reason.

"Paul chanced on a session and got hypnotised to have the confidence to fly and I’m so pleased for him and his partner as they flew to Iceland and back without hitch as normal passengers.”