system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do hostage negotiations work?

When they make "deals" with the hostage taker how much do they honor those deals? When I watched Captain Phillips the negotiator made all of these false promises and I was wondering if this is common practice.
gpt
I have a few co-workers that have done HNT training. The way it works is like this, the HNT tells the hostage taker what she can offer and tries to work out a reasonable solution. All people have basic needs, and the HNT will try to take care of those first. The start of talking someone down may go like this: Are you hurt? Does anyone need medical attention? If you or anyone is hurt, we can get them out and get you the medical care you need. Can you bring the hurt people out?

The next order of business would be safety and security. The HNT may ask: Is every one safe? Are the hostages safe right now? 

Believe it or not, most hostage takers are not about to go killing the hostages, or even beating on them badly. Most of the time, the hostage taker has a sense of empathy and won't want to hurt people. A lot of times, the hostages are secured somewhere safe. Ensuring the hostages and the hostage takers are safe builds a stronger relationship. 

Next, provide for basic needs. She may say: This could take awhile to resolve. Does anyone need food, water, or to use the bathroom?

Finally, she will work to resolve the situation. She will not make promises. She will not overstate her abilities or the strength of the hostages. She will also not refuse anything or say "no" to anything. She can, however, redirect the conversation. For example, if the hostage taker asks for a fully fueled jet airplane, an acceptable response would be something along the lines of: Let's get back to seeing how many people are hurt. We were working on taking care of those with medical emergencies first. 

Skilled hostage negotiators don't have to make false promises because they don't have to make promises other than the ones they are prepared to honor.