This link aired last week in Japan on Nippon TV highlighting AAI’s top survivor trainer Donna Hubbard https://www.ntv.co.jp/gyoten/articles/324lvrh8wfqj7gq9wj4.html
The Cabin Attendant Who Found a Family Suspicious
On a flight from Honduras, located in Central America, to Miami, USA. Donna Hubbard, a veteran flight attendant, noticed passengers who appeared to be a family of three.
But something didn’t feel right, for the young couple was carrying the child on board. Looking at the size of the child, he looked too big to be carried. There might be parents out there who do carry older children, so it wasn’t necessarily totally out of the ordinary. However, Donna couldn’t get the family out of her mind. When she looked closely, she noticed that the boy’s eyes seemed to be glazed over.
He should be able to walk on his own, but he was being carried, and his eyes looked lifeless. Furthermore, the couple seemed on guard, wary of their surroundings. Donna’s vague sense of uneasiness turned into a suspicion, the suspicion that the boy had been kidnapped and put on the plane against his will. It was possible that drugs were affecting the boy’s eyes. It is said to be a common practice in kidnapping cases; drugs are used to keep the victim from making a scene while in transit.
But how could Donna have suspected the family so quickly? The reason is surprising—Donna herself had in fact been drugged and trafficked more than 30 years ago. She managed to return to a normal life after the incident, but the experience led her to join a non-profit organization called Airline Ambassadors International, which aims to train the airline industry on how to detect and stop human trafficking through kidnapping and other means.
Human trafficking victims may be kidnapped, tricked, sold, or forced into unwanted labor. It is estimated that there are more than 40 million victims worldwide, with more than 20,000 victims per year in the United States alone. 78% of them are minors.
Donna joined the group to help reduce the number of victims. She learned how to identify kidnappers and became one of the trainers.
What was her strategy in identifying the kidnapper?
There was no proof that the two were kidnappers, and by this time, it was already less than an hour before their arrival time. If this really was a kidnapping, there would be no way to find them if they were to get away. But if Donna and the crew acted carelessly, the situation could get worse. The plane was in the air, and if the kidnappers were to get upset, it could be a danger for the passengers, so Donna waited for the right time to approach them.
Donna aimed for the moment when the woman took the child to the bathroom—when the man and woman were separated. After having spoken to her colleague, Donna immediately went over to the woman with the child and asked, “How cute you are. How old are you? What is your name?” The woman answered that the child’s name was Jose and that he was eight years old.
At the same time, Donna’s colleague asked the man the exact same question. This was Donna’s strategy. Kidnappers often don’t have a good grasp of the details regarding their victims. The man answered that the child’s name was Pedro and that he was five years old.
Both had given different names and ages, so there was indeed something suspicious about them. Donna contacted the captain. The police were immediately dispatched to the airport. After the plane landed, the culprits were captured.
Donna, who recognized something was amiss from a faint sense of uneasiness, was actually active in Japan as well. Three years ago, she came to Japan at the invitation of All Nippon Airways and shared her knowledge with aviation officials, government agencies, and citizens’ groups. She is still giving courses at the request of airlines around the world.
What should you do if you actually encounter a kidnapper? According to Donna, the first thing to do is to never take any risks and to just report it to the flight crew. The most important thing is to be aware of any uneasy situations or changes in your surroundings. If you feel something is amiss, you should report it. This could lead to the prevention of incidents. There are lives that can be saved when you notice slight incongruities.
