The 20 “Bobs” scattered around the old aircraft hangar didn’t have a chance.
To say the life-size mannequins were pummeled would be polite.
A better term would be “terminated.”
The terminators Tuesday were flight attendants and pilots, who were beating the stuffing out of the Body Opponent Bags, or “Bobs” — the potential terrorists and naughty passengers that the airline employees were dispatching with kicks, punches and flying elbows.
“I feel sorry for the guy who attacks me,” said longtime flight attendant Nancy Brubaker, whose cheery smile belied her fierce determination.
“We learn how to hit, where to hit, when to hit and when you don’t have to hit so hard,” said Brubaker, who has had her share of unruly passengers, police meeting planes and passengers being escorted off.
“My mother worries about me,” said the veteran flight attendant, who will only say she’s been flying more than 10 years. “I tell her, ‘I can take care of myself, Mom.’ ”
More than 20 flight-crew members gathered in the hangar Tuesday for the Federal Air Marshal Service’s Crew Member Self-Defense Training Program.
The national director of the program, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mike Rigney, looked on with approval as four instructors — all experienced and specially trained Aurora police officers, some with SWAT experience — put the pilots and flight attendants through their paces.
The Denver area was one of the original training sites for the program, which began four years ago. Since its inception, said Rigney, 3,400 flight attendants and pilots have gone through the program.
They are trained in everything from the proper stance when confronting a passenger to the use of deadly force, Rigney said.
Marty Garland, an Aurora police officer for 10 years and a former SWAT officer, is one of the instructors.
“What makes me excited is that they (the flight crews) come here on their own time,” Garland said. “They are ready to take time out of their schedule to make the skies safe for everyone.”
Garland said the primary aim of the training is to get the crew in and out of physical confrontations as quickly as possible.
They also learn that they should call on their passengers for assistance.
“We are not so concerned about disabling the unruly passenger but how they (the crew) can survive until others get involved,” Garland said.
What Garland has found is how surprised the crews are about their own physical strength and how empowered they feel when they finish the day-long training.
Lynn Schoenemann, a United flight attendant for 15 years, said she has been grabbed and subjected to attempted bullying during her career.
She was flying during the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and that tragic episode has made her hyper-vigilant, she said.
The first thing she does on a flight, said Schoenemann, is “size up my friends and foes” among the passengers. If she can’t get a pleasant response with her smile and friendly greeting, it makes her a little wary.
Schoenemann on Tuesday punched, threw elbows and jabbed with her legs, knocking down and incapacitating imaginary terrorists and unruly passengers.
“I love the training. I’m really enjoying it. I feel real good,” Schoenemann said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
