Flight attendant reveals the important reason why the crew looks you up and down while boarding

A flight attendant with over 644k followers on TikTok has shared valuable insight into a particular pre-flight practice followed by the crew before every flight. Kat Kamalani, who posts on the popular social media platform as @katkamalani, revealed in a recent video that there's a major purpose behind why flight attendants and crew members stand at the entrance of the airplane when you are boarding. While most of us probably always assumed that they were simply there to greet us and guide us to our seats if needed, Kamalani explained that there's much more to this friendly gesture.

In the video — which has been viewed over 6.7 million times — Kamalani revealed that while welcoming passengers onto their flight, the crew typically looks them up and down for numerous reasons, most of which have to do with safety. "Have you ever walked on a plane and saw the flight attendants standing right here greeting you? Or the flight attendants walking up and down the aisle?" she asks in the video. "Well, I'm about to tell you what we're really doing." Kamalani went on to explain that the crew keeps an eye out for ABPs, aka, Able Bodied People/Person, who can help them in case of emergencies.

"So, when you're walking on the airplane and you see our happy, smiling face - we're actually looking you up and down and we are trying to find our ABPs," she says. "And what that is called is our able body people or person - so, these are people who are going to help us in an emergency." This could include military personnel, firefighters, nurses, doctors, police officers, etc., who can be of help in case of a medical emergency, security breach, or if the flight has to be landed unexpectedly.

Additionally, Kamalani shared that the crew also keeps an eye out for anything out of the ordinary or fishy. "We're looking for human trafficking," she explained. "It happens a lot in the industry and our passengers' safety is our number one priority so we're just looking for things that look off." 

"Traffickers are using airlines. They absolutely are at the airport; their victims are at the airport," Alicia Kozakiewicz, an abduction survivor and human trafficking awareness trainer, told CNN. "Maybe you're sitting there and you're waiting for your flight or you're standing in security, or you're on the plane -- there's a lot of time to sit and be with people. So, pay attention. And report if you see something if you have that gut feeling. Go with it, don't second-guess it too much. And it's a hard thing to do, because you may disrupt somebody's life for a few moments if they aren't doing anything."

"But if there's a chance, saving somebody's life -- what could be more important than saving somebody from being tortured and abused and possibly murdered? And I know, because my life was saved," she added.

Here are some warning signs to watch out for:

1. Clothing:  Victims may not be as well-dressed as their companions or might be wearing clothes that are the wrong size, or are not appropriate for their destination's weather conditions.

2. Someone traveling alone who doesn't seem to know details of who will be meeting them on arrival.

3. A tattoo with a bar code, crown, bags of money, or the words "Daddy" or "Property of." Traffickers or pimps may mark their victims as a sign of ownership, so such tattoos could be a red flag that the person is a victim.

4. A passenger unable to provide details of their departure location, destination, or flight information. 

5. A traveler whose story seems inconsistent or too scripted might be trying to hide the real reason for their travel or under instructions to recite what a trafficker told them to say.

6. Passengers who look like they can't move freely in an airport or on an airplane because they are being controlled, closely watched, or followed.

7. Passengers who seem afraid to interact with others or defers all attempts at conversation to someone who appears to be controlling them.

8. Passengers who seem afraid of uniformed security personnel.