I was on an Eastern Airlines flight, with my wife, coming out of Atlanta in the late 70's or very early 80's. The left engine blew up and fire and parts were shooting out. A stewardess set down and buckled herself in the empty seat to my right and started crying hysterically. Perhaps they are better trained today.
Flight attendants are human beings, we had someone try to hijack us once at DFW, and the guy beat the hell out of one of them, one of them locked herself and the key in the cockpit (that was the training), and another one got burned by him with a cigarette several times.
It was pretty nasty, the cops got on board and beat the guy to a bloody pulp, but the attendants didn't ever return to work. Its a thankless job, really easy, but taxing on the body, and you have to deal with some real scumbags. I had a friend get coldcocked in the face by a passenger once, and another that got beaten trying to get into the cockpit (pre 911).
That being said, I will never date a flight attendant again, too many crazy dates!
That would make me nervious also. Glad you made it.
So, whaddya do with her, then? Help her off the plane when you got down safe?
I'm thinking that the training these people go through doesn't harden them mentally very much. I seriously doubt that it's anything like the psych conditioning our military puts people through, and they still get people here and there who crack out in the field under fire.
I don't think it's as much a "training" thing as I think it's a "human" thing, and some just aren't wired to meet the spectre of possible, violent death face-to-face.