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5 Bravest Flight Attendants | WOC

5 Bravest Flight Attendants | WOC

Yes yes, flight attendants are supposed to just look beautiful and serve you wine. Wrong, their job goes much beyond that and they are there to save the lives of the passengers. They are not just your trolly dollies. Here is a list of 5 flight attendants who went beyond their call of duty to save hundreds of lives.

Lee Yoon Hye

As the Asiana Airplane hit the runway in an unsual manner, Lee knew something was wrong. As the plane caught fire, Lee started rescuing the passengers on-board and extinguish the fire. Even though, 2 girls died in this crash, Lee and her fellow crew managed to save rest of the passenger even if it meant physically carrying the passengers down the emergency slide. During the crash, she broke her tailbone but despite that she was the last one to leave the aircraft after ensuring every one else’s security.

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Nicole Foran & Santizo Arriola

When a Cuban bound flight was hijacked at the Sangster International Airport, Nicole and Santizo managed to convince the hijacker to release the 159 passengers if they give him all the cash they had. As they, along with the rest of the crew, were being held hostage in the plane, the two crew kept talking with the hijacker to keep him distracted and not act on this threat of killing them all if the plane did not take off. After eight hours when the police entered the plane, Nicole who had the gun on her, popped the gun off the distracted hijackers hand. Nicole was given ‘Star of Courage’ & Santizo was given the Medal of Bravery.

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Neerja Bhanot

Youngest recipient of the ‘Ashok Chakra’ Award & ‘Justice for Crimes Award’ by the US government (and more), Bhanot was shot in the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 while she was shielding 3 American Children from gunfire. Not only did Neerja alert the cockpit crew as the hijackers boarded the plane helping them escape & prevent the plane from taking-off, she hid the passports of 41 Americans on board to prevent their identification by the terrorists and guided the passengers to the emergency exit.

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Denise Hickson & Greg Khan

Denise and Greg along with the help of some passengers managed to prevent an hijack attempt on a Qantas flight in the year 2003 by physically tackling the hijacker. They continued to try to restrain the hijacker physically despite being stabbed with a wooden stake multiple times on their head. The hijacker was carrying aerosol cans and cigarette lighters and would have been successful if it was not for the efforts of Denise and Greg.

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Shelia Fedrick

Earlier this year, a flight attendant Shelia rescued a teenage girl; a victim of human trafficking with her presence of mind. She saw a disheveled girl sitting next to a rather well-dressed man. The contrast between them, the quietness of the girl and the older man’s defensiveness when Shelia tried to talk to the girl raised the red flag for her. She somehow managed to convey the message to the girl to go to the bathroom where she left her a note. When the girl responded she needed help, Shelia got in touch with the pilot who in turn informed the police. The police caught the man as the plane landed.

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We have nothing but respect for them and gratitude towards the thousands of cabin crew working relentlessly.

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