San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Airport’s Fear of Flying Clinic Welcomes Nervous Passengers Aboard | KQED
The fear of flying is less a single phobia than a place where other fears converge. For many people, it’s rooted in one or more anxieties that flying brings into focus — the fear of turbulence, of heights, or of having a panic attack in front of strangers with no escape.
For Vance, being inside an aircraft activates her claustrophobia — a condition she developed at nine years old. A series of surgeries caused her to feel severe anxiety in closed spaces. Her panic attacks increased during her teenage years, especially on airplanes.
“If I’m in a car, I can pull over, open my door and get some relief,” she says. “But when I’m in a plane, there’s no out.”
A safe space to face the fear
Air travel isn’t something that most people can do often enough to ease their anxiety. Each trip can feel like starting all over again.
Luckily, Vance found somewhere to practice being uncomfortable: the Fear of Flying Clinic, a nonprofit support organization hosted at the San Francisco International Airport.
Fran Grant and Jeanne McElhatton, both licensed pilots, founded the clinic in 1976 in San Mateo, California. They created an educational program in order to help Grant’s husband overcome his turbulence anxiety so he could travel to Australia.
The curriculum demystified air travel and addressed the physical and psychological roots of fear. The first clinic welcomed a small group of anxious travelers and, by the end, Grant’s husband was calm enough to sleep through turbulence that had once overwhelmed him.
Today, clients from across California spend two consecutive weekends understanding the mechanics of flight and learning how to rewire their anxious thoughts. A four-day workshop culminates in a round-trip graduation flight to Seattle.
Vance arrives at the clinic on the first day with her mother, Louise, joining eight other participants, including one couple who drove in from Fresno. Volunteers run the workshop — many of whom are nervous flyers and have gone through the clinic themselves — and include instruction from working pilots, air traffic controllers, flight attendants and aircraft maintenance technicians.
Volunteer psychotherapist Paula Zimmerman begins the workshop by asking everyone to introduce themselves and their concerns about flying. Reasons for signing up range widely: panic attacks, childhood trauma from an earthquake, a decades-old rescue mission during the Vietnam War. One participant in their fifties had never even been inside an airplane.
Often, Zimmerman says, they sign up because of an important upcoming trip.
Retrain the brain
Zimmerman wants participants to understand the difference between adrenaline and real danger. Her goal is to help them to distinguish between the thing that’s happening to them and how they think about the thing that’s happening to them.
She writes the letter “A” on a large sheet of paper at the front of the room. A stands for an activating event — like, for example, turbulence.
Division-leading Dodgers aim to snap home losing trend as they open series against the Giants in a matchup of NL West foes
After dropping their second straight home series over the weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers head into Monday night’s series opener against the San Francisco Giants sitting atop the National League West Division standings, aiming to avenge a series loss to the Giants from two weeks ago. San Francisco has lost nine of its last 12 games overall and have dropped seven in a row on the road as they begin a 10-game road trip that will keep them away from home until Memorial Day Weekend. The Giants will start Trevor McDonald (1-0, 1.29 ERA) in his fourth start in the Majors while the Dodgers will counter with second-year Japanese import Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.97 ERA) who has given up a home run in five consecutive outings.
How to Watch San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers:
Date: May 11, 2026
Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
TV Channel: MLB Network
Location: Dodgers Stadium
Live Stream the San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers game on Fubo: Start watching now!
Dodger center fielder Andy Pages, who has helped Los Angeles claim World Series titles in each of his first two years in the Majors, leads the team this season hitting .333, ranking the 25-year-old Cuban third among all hitters in MLB. Pages is hitting .371 so far in May with five extra base hits and 10 RBIs and has successfully reached base in 13 of his last 14 games.
With nine hits in seven games so far this month, Giants second baseman Luis Arraez is hitting a team-leading .310 at the plate in 2026 and is on pace for his eighth career 100-hit campaign. Arraez is one of only two active players with a career batting average above .300, hitting .316 for his career and leads Houston’s Jose Altuve by 15 points.
What time is Giants vs Dodgers?
Coverage of the San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers starts Monday, May 11, at 10:00 p.m ET. Tune in to see if the Dodgers can beat the Giants for the fifth time in the last six games at Dodger Stadium or if San Francisco can beat LA for the fourth time in the last five head-to-head matchups.
What channel is the Giants vs Dodgers game on?
Looking to watch the game? Subscribers can tune to MLB Network to catch the action. Make sure you subscribe to Fubo now to watch this matchup at home or on the go with the Fubo TV app.
Watch the San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers game on Fubo: Start watching now!
Regional restrictions may apply.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the McCoven who hopefully have better things to do than watch this dreadful baseball team. But if this is your chosen way of spending the day, then welcome, and may the Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the series for you.
Right-hander Tyler Mahle takes the mound for the Giants, as the veteran makes his eighth start of the year. He’s 1-4 on the season, with a 5.00 ERA, a 4.91 FIP, and 34 strikeouts to 18 walks in 36 innings. He was very strong his last time out, pitching 5.1 shutout innings against the Tampa Bay Rays.
For the Pirates, it’s right-hander Bubba Chandler, a 23-year old in his second season. In seven starts this year, Chandler is 1-4 with a 4.76 ERA, a 5.60 FIP, and 31 strikeouts to 26 walks in 34 innings. Chandler gave up two runs in five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks in his last game. He has issued the most walks in the Major Leagues, so he’s probably foaming at the mouth to face the Giants, who apparently believe that drawing walks is a sin on par with murder.
Enjoy the game, everyone. Go Giants! Go moms!
Who: San Francisco Giants (15-24) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (22-18)
Where: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area
Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM
San Francisco, CA
Where to watch Pittsburgh Pirates vs San Francisco Giants: TV channel, start time, streaming for May 10
What to know about MLB’s ABS robot umpire strike zone system
MLB launches ABS challenge system as players test robot umpire calls in a groundbreaking season.
Baseball is back and finding what channel your favorite team is playing on has become a little bit more confusing since MLB announced plans to produce and distribute broadcasts for nearly a third of the league.
We’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know Sunday as the Pittsburgh Pirates visit the San Francisco Giants.
See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
What time is Pittsburgh Pirates vs San Francisco Giants?
First pitch between the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, May 10.
How to watch Pittsburgh Pirates vs San Francisco Giants on Sunday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Sunday, May 10, 2026, at 6:33 a.m.
Watch MLB all season long with Fubo
MLB regional blackout restrictions apply
MLB scores, results
MLB scores for May 10 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:
See scores, results for all of today’s games.
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