Disturbing article...Flight attendant self-defense training...

[Gargoyle again]

Snipped from an article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 2/8/02.

---------------
"Attendants left as last line of defense"
Author: Ken Kaye

"....Airlines are weighing options. American, for instance, is considering hiring International Protective Services of Hollywood to train about 20 American security people in self-defense. They, in turn, would train thousands of flight attendants who could take the course on a voluntary basis.


As it is, dozens of flight attendants and pilots already have taken the four-hour course, paying the $60 fee out of their own pockets, said Walter Philbrick, president of International Protective Services.


The course covers everything from dealing with an abusive air-rage passenger to subduing a terrorist-hijacker, he said.


For instance, if someone becomes combative, students are taught to grab a pressure point on the shoulder; if done properly, that will bring a person to his knees.


If an assailant has a knife, a student is taught to grab a jacket and wrap it around his or her arm to prevent getting cut. If the attacker has a revolver, a student would attempt to grab the cylinder so the gun can't fire.


Otherwise, Philbrick, 50, a former police SWAT team leader and world judo champion, teaches flight attendants to throw a soda can at a would-be hijacker and use beverage carts to block access to the ****pit.

---------------

Now for my own opinion on this article...

I think it is hideously inadequate and will give a false sense of confidence to airline crews. A four hour course? Are we really supposed to believe a 100 pound flight attendant can subdue someone with a "pressure point on the shoulder"? I've been doing martial arts for 5 years now and would never consider any of these methods as worthwile. Risky as hell. These sound like defense techniques taken straight from the back cover of a comic book. It is shameful that this Walter Philbrick (world judo champ? anyone know who he is?) would be peddling crap such as this to the airline employees under the guise of self-defense and anti-terrorism

Thoughts? I know you've got 'em

[Gargoyle again]

Hee hee, apparantly c0ckpit is a dirty word? Whooda thunkit?

[Tigerstyle]

I think the soda can and beverage cart tactics are good ideas. As far as the rest of it?

[Ryu]

To be perfectly honest, I think people forget how intimidating and helpless it feels to come face to face with an armed terrorist.
All their training doesn't mean their minds won't freeze up.

Ryu

[Merryprankster]

Even scarier--I've SEEN clips on tv of what is offered to delta.

I saw a lot of "long" techniques and not enough "short" stuff that will be far more likely and useful in the confines of an airplane.

[Tigerstyle]

"If an assailant has a knife, a student is taught to grab a jacket and wrap it around his or her arm to prevent getting cut."

Did that idea come from 80's movies and TV shows?

[Highlander]

Where are they holding the training? If it isn't on a fully loaded plane that is in flight, then it's worthless. (Not saying that it is worth that much to begin with).

[qeySuS]

Well they forget taht if someone is in a "Rage" of some sort or is mentally disturbed i doubt pressure points will work on them.

[JasBourne]

They should make wingchun and grappling proficiency mandatory for all flight attendants.

Phear ur stew@rd3$$ - "I said, fasten your safety belt!" *wham*

[rubthebuddha]

that's utter crap. i'm not confident i could ruin said terrorist, much less two or three or more of them, and i've been doing MA for much of my life (WT the past few, in which the close-quarter stuff just might come in handy on a plane). giving a flight attendant a four-hour crash course is like giving them a death wish.

"really, of course a few hours of lecture and twenty minutes of practice will allow you to defend yourself against a large, aggressive terrorist who has been training for several years on how to kill people. really, it will!"

****.

[Lode Runner]

"For instance, if someone becomes combative, students are taught to grab a pressure point on the shoulder; if done properly, that will bring a person to his knees."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

they're teaching them the Vulcan nerve pinch?! Wtf? Like the terrorist will be in so much pain he won't even have the strength to slap your arm away.

Ok so I'll give 'em 10 out of 10 for style, but minus several million for good thinking.

Actually, there's really no need for any of this. Training was never the problem... it was mindset. Now people know that resistance is everything. Unless the terrorists are MA gods that can fight off dozens of passengers simultaneously in severely cramped conditions, there's no way they'll ever take control of another airplane ever again. They might crash it, but realistically speaking there's no way to counter that threat with MA (bombs are too easy to make and despite what that one moron recently tried to pull with his sock-bomb routine, one can simply hide in the bathroom to assemble it and set it off.)

[Black Jack]

I did not read the article, a lot of it sounds like crap, but here are a few points from me.

The soda can idea is not bad, projectiles can buy you some room in a knife based situation, Sayoc Kali stresses projectiles, it could keep them at a distance as you try to get to a better position.

The jacket around the arm defense can be rendered useless if you are facing a well-made fighting blade, a Ka-Bar, Busse, Cold Steel, Sypderco, Emerson, Kukri, and so on and so on.

A quailty blade will slice through it like butter.

The jacket defense only has some merit if you are facing off against a "cheapo" blade, but even then I would rather use the jaket to whip and fail at the attacker and the attackers weapon, while keeping one free hand open.

[Tae Li]

I also think that a four hour training course could not possibly be that effective...I mean who are they kidding? this isnt the movies, and indeed when you come face to face with something as horific as a terrorist who is very likely to have a semi-automatic pointing towards your head, it is very possible to lose control of your bodily functions not to mention your mental focus.

But then again, sometimes when your mind and body are under so much pressure but even more so, fear, it gains miracilous power and skill you would never have imagined you had. its very possible but it all depends on that person.

understand?

Tae Li

[rubthebuddha]

and we're going to see that from a mighty flight attendant, who will dispatch a trained killer with nothing but personal sacrifice in mind with the greatest of ease.

again, ****.

either get trained u.s. marshalls back on planes, or give it up, because four hours of training is only going to give people the misplaced confidence that's going to do nothing but have them be the first person to die because they were the first person to step up.

[Royal Dragon]

why don't wee all start contacting airlines and ask permission to com in and conduct traing exerciese on planes? we culd tell them wer are creating a program for the airline attendant that we plan on offerening in the future. This give us time experiane and oppetunity to do it right, and makes good polotics for reqruiting students later down the road.

Just a thought, Royal Dragon