That's what I tell them. I've had a few times when the flight was delayed for a mechanical and passengers would ask the question "Is it safe?". My answer is "M'am (or Sir), if it wasn't safe then the pilots would be the first ones off the airplane. Just follow us." This usually results in a smile.

A good reason to take the extra minute to start and taxi out on #1 instead.

Once at night while cruising in and out of clouds the flight attendant notified me a passenger thought wing was on fire.

"What part?"

"The left wing tip."

"Tell her it's just the lights reflecting off the clouds".

A minute later the flight attendant calls up again to say the lady, an older woman, was very concerned that the wing was on fire. I said, "Tell her to watch the wing. Thirty seconds after you hang up I'm going to turn off the lights for 30 seconds, then turn them on for 10 seconds, off for 5 and back on." I did this and the flight attendant reported the lady was now a believer.

Sure it was a bit of a pain in the tuckus, but this passenger's concerns probably caught the attention of another passenger or two. By calming her, it made the flight attendant's job a little easier and, maybe, convinced a few more white-knuckle fliers that airline flying was, indeed, the safety way to travel.

Besides, it was too dark to work on my USA Today Sudoku. Can they make those puzzles any smaller?