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CNN Live At Daybreak

Flight Attendants Train for Passenger Violence

Aired July 06, 2001 - 07:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: At 30,000 feet, just how do flight attendants deal with air rage? More and more flight attendants are preparing for these situations in ways that might surprise you.

CNN's Chris Wolfe explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, come sit over here with me.

RENEE SHEFFER, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Sir, please let go of me.

CHRIS WOLFE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Renee Sheffer is not a martial arts expert or law enforcement officer; she's a flight attendant.

SHEFFER: I am there to save lives, and I don't want my life taken by an irate passenger.

WOLFE: Sheffer is dealing with air rage, passengers becoming violent in the sky.

In 1998, an enraged man kicked, punched and threw Renee down the aisle during a cross-country flight. Her injuries, some shown here, put her out of work for two years. Now Sheffer's back, armed with physical self-defense training she pursued on her own. It's called Compliance Direction Takedown, or CDT.

TOM PATIRE, CDT FOUNDER: So when I do this, I bring him to me.

Take the body mechanics, motor units, and we temporarily just shut them down, and when you let him go, the perfect person is perfectly fine.

WOLFE (on camera): Tom Patire has trained about 50 flight attendants with the CDT program, and about 55 more have signed up for the course. They are learning about it through the Internet and word of mouth.

PATIRE: The airlines haven't said no to training, quite honestly. They haven't said yes to it either.

WOLFE (voice-over): But many carriers are saying yes to different kinds of verbal training. One program is called verbal judo. Frontier Airlines allowed us to take a look.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry, I need you to be seated.

WOLFE: Catch phrases, body language, and composure -- the goal is to diffuse simmering situations before they flare up to physical contact.

LEE FJELSTAD, VERBAL JUDO INSTITUTE: We're teaching people to deflect. If people are angry, simply look at them and say, I understand you are upset, and I can appreciate that -- I can even emphasize with it -- however...

WOLFE: Clients include Delta, US Airways and Qantas. Meanwhile, flight attendants like Renee Sheffer will seek their own training.

SHEFFER: Stop! Stop! Have a seat, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let them fight. Serves you right.

SHEFFER: Put your seat belts on.

WOLFE: Chris Wolfe, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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