Lifestyle
Flight Attendant Saves Girl From Human Trafficking Situation
On an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to San Francisco, flight attendant Shelia Fedrick felt like something was wrong. She noticed a teen with greasy blonde hair sitting next to a well-dressed older man, and Fox News reports that Fedrick said the girl “looked like she had been through pure hell.”
Fedrick tried to engage the pair in conversation, but the man was having none of it. She knew she had to take action, so she convinced the man to let the girl get up to use the bathroom where she had left a note for her on the mirror. The teen replied to the note and said she needed help.
NBC News writes that the flight attendant then alerted the police who were waiting when the plane landed. This incident took place in 2011, and is a great example of what Nancy Rivard, founder of Airline Ambassadors, wants to train all flight attendants to recognize. According to NBC, “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 2,000 human traffickers and identified 400 victims last year. Since 2009 Airline Ambassadors has been working to make sure that when a trafficker flies with a victim, the flight crew is trained to spot and report them.” With observant employees like Fedrick, airlines can help change lives.
