Woman Says Flight Crew Made Jokes After Man's Sexual Misconduct on Flight

A 26-year-old photographer was flying back to Chicago after a trip to London when she awoke to an unpleasant sight earlier this month. A male passenger sitting next to her with a blanket covering his body appeared to be masturbating Genevieve Pascolla told Buzzfeed News. When she realized what was going on, she says she woke the woman sitting next to her and told an attendant on the United Airlines flight about the incident. But, unfortunately, that's not where the story ends. 

In a post on Instagram, Pascolla says that after she and the woman sitting next to her were given new seats, she overheard the flight attendants begin cracking jokes about what the man had done - an experience Pascolla described as being assaulted.

"They then started making jokes about the situation asking “what perfume are you wearing” and excusing him saying “he’s had a bit of wine” no one stopped him," Pascolla wrote. She also claimed that the man was "allowed to finish" while a child was sitting nearby. 

She even posted a short video that appeared to show the man's hand moving underneath the blanket that covered his body. 

When the flight finally landed in Chicago, Pascolla says a "security guard" asked her whether she wanted an apology from the man she caught self-pleasuring himself. She writes that she immediately rejected the request, and filed a complaint with United. 

She says the airline eventually wrote back (a month later), and apologized for her "uncomfortable situation" giving her half the cost of her ticket as "a goodwill gesture" the day after the incident.

Pascolla says she was "appalled at the lack of action taken in this situation in which as a woman, I was terrified."

United spokesperson Maddie King told Buzzfeed News that the airline has established protocols to ensure their customer's safety "because it its our top priority" when incidents like that occur and that "inappropriate and offensive conduct like this" were rare. 

"That’s why, in this case, our customers were promptly moved to different seats in a different section of the plane and law enforcement officials were summoned in advance to meet the perpetrator when the plane pulled into the gate," King said.

Photo: Getty Images


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