Associated Press
BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) - Airline passengers will learn how to use everything from a book to a belt as a weapon, as part of a new martial arts class designed to arm passengers to fend off an attack.
Twenty people have signed up for the AirSafe martial arts classes starting April 19 at J.K. Lee Tae Kwon Do Black Belt Academy in Brookfield.
“Anything around you can become a weapon,” said AirSafe co-founder Gary Klugiewicz, a retired Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department officer and author of police department training manuals.
Klugiewicz started the program with Chan Lee, co-owner of J.K. Lee academy. They are pitching the course to airlines and large corporations with many frequent fliers.
Participants will learn the basic techniques to subdue an attacker or disruptive passenger, and learn how to ask other airline passengers to help them stop someone dangerous.
Paul Callahan, 45, an insurance executive who logs more than 100,000 miles in the air each year, said he wants to learn how to recognize a dangerous situation before it escalates.
“Once there’s a problem, you are in an enclosed environment several miles up in the air,” he said.
Flight attendants can’t always stop an unruly passenger without help from others on the plane, said Mary Alwin, a flight attendant who enrolled in a martial arts class at the J.K. Lee studio after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“We need to encourage passengers to get involved,” she said. “I would feel real confident about a passenger who has taken something such as the AirSafe program.”
The AirSafe program is free for flight attendants. Others pay $99 - the fee includes a Velcro strap that can be used to restrain people.