Whenever my son and his wife fly, I always track the flight on this website
Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!
You can switch to the 'cockpit view' which uses google earth for its simulation.
This provides reassurance that your 'loved ones' are safe.
That was the case until their last flight back from Italy which showed the plane landing in a field south of the airport. For one terrible moment I thought they had crashed.
Virtual reality doesn't always depict the 'real'.