K.C. Payne Mainsfield, TX
Female Martial Artist of the Month &
America In Defense   Certified Instructor

By: Gregory Story

“Home is where your horse is.  When they die, everyone ought to come back as my horse.
They’d be in paradise.” Happy Contrails

The first flight attendant to be certified as an America In Defense (AID) instructor, KC Payne learned firsthand about airline tragedy long before 9/11.  Currently employed by American Airlines, she formerly worked at ValuJet, an airline small enough for everyone to know each other.

“My best friend, Jennifer Stearns, was the lead attendant on the ValuJet that crashed in the Everglades on May 11, 1996.  We roomed together during training.  She was only twenty-one,” KC recalls.

A background in the security field combined with a blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do gave this Texas native the potential to be an AID instructor.  The program run under the aegis of WorldBlackBelt trains flight personnel how to recognize and deal with danger in the cabin.  KC’s position with American Airlines introduced her to the class.  The airline has been chosen to initiate the project due to its primacy in the field.  American is the largest carrier and renowned for establishing operational standards.

KC found herself “excited and impressed at the research done” to develop the four hour course.  Her class was fittingly held on Memorial Day this year.  Because her work made scheduling tight, KC received private tutoring from Anna Burleson in the two-day program instructors must take.  Anna’s husband, Pat, heads the Dallas AID team.

“Attendants can relate to me because I’m one of them.  I show then how equipment onboard can be very effective against an assailant.  A lot of people come up to me after class and tell me they feel more confident.  They feel empowered.  That’s my reward,” she states.

AID is staffed entirely by volunteers and is being offered free of charge to all interested personnel at American Airlines.  KC explains how airline attendants already receive training in how to handle a wide variety of problems that may occur in flight.

“Passengers tend to see us as servers, but that’s just a small part of the seven weeks training we go through.  The rest of the time is spent on safety issues, first aid, evacuation, things we hope passengers never have to see.  You have to learn all the details about the type of airplane you’ll be working on,” she explains.

All the serious problems KC’s encountered in the air have related to equipment failure or health issues.  Sudden decompression caused the overhead masks to drop down on a ValuJet flight.  Once, she had to administer oxygen to a potential heart attack victim who fortunately was released from the hospital after an overnight stay.

“You’re the first one to the problem, you own it. We’re taught how to handle most anything.  Our biggest gripe is people ignoring safety measures.  There’s a reason they turn on the fasten seatbelt sign, but sometimes it seems passengers take it to mean it’s time to get up and go to the bathroom,” she chuckles.

In talking of 9/11, KC describes the tragedy in martial arts terms.

“Just like in judo, the terrorists used our own momentum against us.  Attendants were always told to comply, comply, comply in order to not jeopardize the passengers or craft.  They caught totally out of left field.  No one in the aviation industry ever expected an aircraft to be used as a bomb,” she says.

After a long layoff from martial arts, KC recently took up kickboxing again beginning a regimen of kicks and punches.  The training helped her show fellow flight attendants self-defense techniques though she describes herself as a “turkey in a flock of eagles” compared to the prowess of other AID instructors.

“It’s great to be able to use my blackbelt in AID instruction.  It was gathering dust in the closet too long.  I’ve been urging all the attendants to take the AID class.  We’re all grateful American has taken such interest in the safety of passengers and crew” she states.

The field where KC feels she really soars however is horsemanship.  True to her Texas heritage, she claims to have been practically borne in a saddle.

“My parents have home movies of me as a little baby sitting up by myself on a horse,” she says.

Both of KC’s parents were rodeo riders, and she and the rest of her siblings continued the family tradition.  Her horsemanship led her into security work providing crowd and traffic control at concerts, horse racing, the 94 World Soccer Cup, nightclubs and malls.

“Just the visual presence of a horse provides a comforting feeling of safety.  Your horse gets you the work.  Everybody likes to pet a friendly horse,” she explains.

KC calls her horse “Trooper” her best friend.  The Palomino gelding lives on the property where her house is sited in Mansfield, a small town near the sprawling airport at Fort Worth, Texas.  The pair has had to corral bad guys until the police arrived several times.

“Any time I get to yell and boss people around.  I take right to it,” she states.

If you would like to contact K.C. Payne, you can reach her at kcpayne@worldblackbelt.com.

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