Seat 7a

You know your fear is irrational, you've checked the statistics. Flying is safer than driving – nineteen times safer. Irrational, perhaps. But you're not wrong.

Mats Krüger is terrified of flying. But his daughter, Nele, is about to give birth to his first grandchild, so, for once, he's taking the risk and making the thirteen-hour flight from Buenos Aires to Berlin.

Of course, he's taken precautions. He'...