A Repost from a flight attendant - immigrant children on a plane

[leftieNanner]

Shared post: "My friend Ånika Łodzinski is a flight attendant. Today her coworker posted the following about a REDEYE flight from Arizona to Miami last night:

“Through all the adversities we faced last evening with computer outages, cancellations and delays, nothing prepared me or my crew for 16 passengers. Sixteen. All dressed in black and gray cheap Walmart sweat suits, quietly boarding the 12:30am flight.

Children! Thirty-two scared eyes looking straight forward dazed. We try to speak, yet none speak English.

During the beverage service, one of the crew comes to me in tears. They can’t face these children that have been ripped from their families with a smile.

These children were probably ranging in age from 11, to the most adorable little girl maybe 6 years old. At 2:30 in the morning, deplaned here in Miami not knowing if they will ever see their loved ones again that they were separated from in Phoenix.

Those sweet innocent children, dressed as criminals silently deplaned with the same fear as our initial meeting. Except for the little girl. She looked up at me as she turned left for the main cabin door, with tears of fear streaming down her face. I’m not sure the protocol, but I leaned over hoping to offer some hope, she hugged me, which was returned - much to the scowl and comments from the adult escort.

I pray that these 16 scared little souls, as well as all the other thousands, find their way to reuniting with their loved ones.

We are trained yearly in hundreds of possible scenarios as attendants. Something like this isn’t remotely one of those. I had only met one of my crew a few years earlier, the rest never. Thank God, we had one another to lean on to not only get through the flight, but also maybe some glimmer of hope for those babies.”

What have we become?

[jberryhill]

1. What airline?

[leftieNanner]

2. I don't know

This is second hand info from a friend on FB.

[jberryhill]

3. Ah, second hand info from FB with a complete absence of verifiable detail

One might think that other people in the airport or plane might have noticed. I’ll bet getting through the TSA line was interesting.

[leftieNanner]

4. Good Point

I'll do some digging and see what I can find.

[jberryhill]

5. The story is absurd on its face

These children were not accompanied by any adults? It’s interestint that the story has no mention of who those adults were, or how this FA ascertained the status of these children with whom she could not communicate aboard this aircraft from Phoenix to Miami on which no one spoke Spanish.

It’s remarkable that, unable to speak to them, she was able to determine their ages from their non- existent identity documents.

[Hekate]

6. Check Snopes for verification

[jberryhill]

7. Snopes doesn't verify every random third-hand story

I like how the person in question uses a Nordic alphabet (Å) for their first name, and a Slavic alphabet (Ł ) for their last name.

While, certainly, people have all sorts of heritage, it is remarkable that someone would use two different character sets in one name.

That’s quite unique, so this person should be easy to find.

[CloudWatcher]

14. facebook source

The Ånika Łodzinski post came from ... https://www.facebook.com/Dunberberberlee

It's certainly gone viral, but on first glance that facebook account looks fake to me.

[jberryhill]

9. Do you need snopes for this?

This POS story has a flight leaving Phoenix at 12:30 AM and arriving in Miami at 2:30 AM.

If it is not immediately obvious how stupid that is, Snopes is not going to help you.

If those are local times, the plane was traveling faster than the speed of light.

If those are both Phoenix time, then it was traveling faster than the speed of sound, because the best commmercial flight is 4.5 hours.

You can’t leave Phoenix at 12:30 and be in Miami at 2:30.

It is obvious nonsense written for gullible people who can’t do math.

[Hekate]

16. Sorry I couldn't get back to you in a timely manner, but I was not available...

So. I believe in verifying sources.

I hate random FB essays, just as I hate the spammy stuff posted online and via email -- little vignettes that follow a certain predictable narrative pattern and are designed to tug at your heartstrings or wrench your gut. They make me want to sharpen my editorial blue pencil and start marking them up, but I have found that it is mostly hopeless to try to persuade the senders that these are tripe written by hacks with an agenda.

Snopes is my go-to when I bother trying to educate the people who pass along dreck. Contrary to what you said, if a story gets wide enough circulation, it will end up being fact-checked by the good folks at Snopes -- probably because a critical mass of skeptics write to them and ask.

Your bullshit meter went off. If I had had more time earlier today, I would have let you know that mine went off too.

[mwooldri]

18. You're right about the time zones.

During daylight savings time, that AZA to MIA flight landed in MIA one hour before it took off from AZA.

Now... MIA to AZA is doable, with departure from MIA at 00:30 hrs local time and arrival at 02:30 local time.

But another thing to debunk... Generally commercial passenger flights wouldn't take off or land between midnight and 6am.

[vsrazdem]

28. Phoenix is on Mountain standard time. There is a 3 hour time difference,

so even if it was local times, it does not make senes. If they left phoenix at 12:30, it would already be 3:30 in Miami.

[LeftInTX]

11. I'm with you

Show a kid a can of Coke and they know exactly what it is. Spanish is not hard to sign language. I was in WalMart yesterday. The clerk didn't speak English. I was looking for a pair of No-Nonsense footlets. I speak a bit of Spanish (like aqui and mal. I said, "Mi gusto ____ (points to the product I want). She spoke less English than I spoke Spanish. Somehow she told me that they didn't carry the No-Nonsense footlets anymore.

[jberryhill]

12. I want to catch one of these Einstein Airways flights

How cool would it be to land in Miami an hour before you took off in Phoenix?

[LeftInTX]

13. Yeah...I'm as mad as anyone about these kids being detained...but stories like this are always hinky

They would have had an interpreter and someone supervising these kids on this flight.

Otherwise, it would have been a free for all. Despite the gravity of the situation, kids will be kids and flight attendants should not be subjected to bickering kiddos in a language that they don't understand.

[SunSeeker]

20. The post does mention a scowling "adult escort" that was accompanying the kids.

They story does not say they were unaccompanied.

[Squinch]

22. She does say there were adults with them.

[Squinch]

23. I hear what you are saying but we do know kids are being

taken from parents. They are of the ages described. They do have to travel to be taken where they are going. Whether this particular account is true or not, this scene IS in fact going on all over our country today.

[jberryhill]

33. Lying doesn't help

[Squinch]

35. Dismissing the truth doesn't either. The arrival and departure

times might not be true. The rest of it is happening.

[Hortensis]

39. Groups of children were being flown to Miami

on their way to a concentration facility in Homestead, Florida. This had been going on for a long time for unaccompanied children. However, that facility was apparently closed down in 2017.

What is true, of course, is that accompanied children are now being taken away from loving parents and delivered to other detention facilities.

[Duppers]

42. Accompanied by any adults?

From the OP:

"...much to the scowl and comments from the adult escort."

I agree with that this story has some leaps of logic. But if it is a fabrication, then pundit Ana Navarro fell for it. See:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210748261

[jberryhill]

10. One thing you might dig into

And this might take some careful research...

This flight leaves Phoenix at 12:30 AM and deplanes in Miami at 2:30 AM.

Do you think those are both local times? Because if they are, the flight arrived in Miami an hour before it took off.

Subjecting children to experiments in time travel is unconscionable.

If they aren’t local times, which would be extremely unusual for a story by an FA, perhaps you might go on an air booking site and find one of these remarkable two hour flights from PHX to MIA.

This story is bullshit. Would you kindly let the person who told you this know that?

[Demsrule86]

26. The person telling this story may have changed the time so as not to be identified.

Also, this is from Snopes...and is true. 10,000 kids in custody at this moment...I am so angry about this.

"The Trump administration has used the capabilities of the Office of Refugee Resettlement as a way to justify their controversial policy of separating children from their families. In an interview with NPR, President Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly argued that separating children from parents wasn’t “cruel and heartless” because “the children will be taken care of — put into foster care or whatever.”

With over 10,000 children crowded into detention centers, including a temporary facility on loan from the Department of Labor set up to handle this most recent surge, it is unclear if Kelly’s assertion is actually representative of the reality on the ground."

[progree]

36. John Kelley: "the children will be taken care of -- put into foster care or whatever."

Yup, "or whatever". I have to give him credit for honesty. "Will be taken care of" is also rather non-specific and open to quite a lot of interpretation.

[LanternWaste]

41. Yell at the clouds some more.

The important thing is we allege it's bullshit; our own research to clearly illustrate it as such however, not so much.

Yell at the clouds some more.

[jberryhill]

44. "Our own research"

It's a pity that you will not lift a finger to identify the commercial airline that this story is claiming that is being used to transport minor immigrants.

It must be because you don't care, either about the children or the truth.

A coordinated action against that airline would be productive.

[James48]

15. American Airlines

AA flight 2054

Departs Phoenix Sky Harbir airport at 12:10 a.m. (Phoenix time).

Arrives at Miami International Airpirt at 7:36 a.m. (Miami time. Miami is now on Eastern Daylight Time, which is 3 hours ahead of Phoenix, which is on MOuntain STANDARD time all year).

That is the only flight of a U.S. Airline from Phoenix to Miami that is a “red eye” that I could find.


Close, but not exactly the times cited.

[Roland99]

32. THIS THREAD SHOULD BE DELETED

We aren’t gullible like this. Come on folks

If it looks like a duck but barks like a dog, it ain’t a duck.

[leftieNanner]

40. My Bad

Lesson Learned.

Sorry DU.

[jberryhill]

37. And this faster-than-light flight had 16+ standby seats available

...all grouped together.

[raven mad]

17. ....

[SunSeeker]

19. Whether or not this flight is accurately described, but we do know they are separating kids.

And then sending them far from there parents, even cross country.

[left-of-center2012]

21. Googling this ...

It was posted on a Facebook page, but I didn't see the original source.

[Squinch]

24. But what we do know is that scenes like this are, in fact, happening.

[GeoWilliam750]

25. There does not seem to be any significant internet history about anyone named Anika Lodzinski

[Demsrule86]

27. would you use your real name?

She could lose her job...so we don't know what is true... but we do know that this is the policy of the Trump administration to send kids far from parents in order to exact the maximum of suffering for parent and child. It is a heinous policy and there are 10,000 such kids in detention centers...with little or no oversight...we need to start a group to work on this...not in my name you fucking bastard Republicans.

[ecstatic]

31. Exactly. nt

[jberryhill]

34. It's nika Łodzinski

Her mother was Danish and insisted on the Å. Her father was Polish and insisted on the Ł. She needs two keyboards to type her name.

[blueinredohio]

29. This story made me cry.

[Vinca]

30. Whether this is fake or not, it's probably an accurate depiction of what is happening.

We know the little girls aren't at the places toured . . . they've got to be somewhere. Trump is no better than a Nazi dictator.

[oasis]

38. "16 scared little souls".

With Trump's failure to help Puerto Rican families during hurricane Maria, coupled with this recent act of inhumanity toward immigrants at the border, who can deny that Trump's Administration is not deeply rooted in bigotry?

[SweetieD]

43. This sounds extremely fake. Please use your power of discernment. There will

Be people who intentionally make up stories about all this.

[jberryhill]

45. And there will be people who vigorously defend fake stories...

...and fling insults at people who are interested in knowing the truth.