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In what can only be described as disgusting and infuriating we have another case of an in-flight sexual assault by an intoxicated male perpetrated on the female sitting next to him. This time it occurred on American Airlines flight AA807 heading from Charlotte to Salt Lake city. The date was 05 November 2019.
In this instance, James Clayton Cholewinski-Boyd was sitting in an aisle seat and next to him was a mother (center seat) and daughter (window seat).
According to the FBI, Cholewinski-Boyd engaged in criminal sexual misconduct on AA807. That’s legal speak for his having sexually attacked the lady sitting next to him.
In flight sexual assault
Shortly after takeoff, he touched the woman’s arm, and she “continually pushed his hands away from her.” He then “forcibly grabbed her between the legs.” Again she shoved his hands away and told him to stop. He sarcastically threw his hands in the air and said “sorry.”
The woman and her daughter did not sit idly, they flagged down the flight crew and were immediately relocated, the flight crew advised the pilot, who made the decision to divert to Tulsa, where Cholewinski was arrested.
American Airlines thanked the crew members for their handling of the in-flight sexual assault and released a statement about the incident:
“American Airlines flight 807 from Charlotte to Salt Lake City diverted to Tulsa, Oklahoma Tuesday night due to a disruptive passenger. Law enforcement met the flight, removed the passenger, and the flight continued to Salt Lake City.”
Heather Smallwood, whose husband was on the plane, posted the following on Facebook about Cholewinski’s actions and removal from the aircraft in Tulsa.
In-flight sexual attacks occur
In June 2018, a female passenger was sexually assaulted on a Jet Blue flight in much the same manner as Cholewinski-Boyd attacked the woman on AA807.
Then again in August 2018, a female passenger was assault by a the male sitting next to her. The passenger awakened to find his hands in her pants. Truly disgusting aspect, he conducted the sexual assault while his own wife sat on his other side. The assailant, Prabhu Ramamoorthy, was sentenced in December 2018 to 9 years in prison.
From the AFA
The AFA (Association of Flight Attendants) surveyed 3,500 flight attendants representing 29 airlines on harassment of flight attendants in 2018. The results are sobering.
- 68% of flight attendants experienced sexual harassment during their flying careers.
- 35% experienced verbal sexual harassment from passengers in the last year. Of those, 68% faced it three or more times, and a third five or more times in the past year.
Flight attendants describe the verbal sexual harassment as comments that are “nasty, unwanted, lewd, crude, inappropriate, uncomfortable, sexual, suggestive, and dirty.” They also report being subjected to passengers’ explicit sexual fantasies, propositions, request for sexual “favors” and pornographic videos and pictures.
The most common response to passenger verbal harassment, by order of frequency, are to avoid further interaction with the passenger, ignore the harassment, or diffuse/deflect the situation. - 18% experienced physical sexual harassment from passengers in the last year. More than 40% of those suffered physical abuse three or more times.
Flight attendants said the physical sexual harassment included having their breasts, buttocks and crotch area “touched, felt, pulled, grabbed, groped, slapped, rubbed, and fondled” both on top of and under their uniforms. Other abuse included passengers cornering or lunging at them followed by unwanted hugs, kisses and humping. - Only 7% of the flight attendants who experienced the abuse have reported sexual harassment to their employer.
- 68% of flight attendants say they have not noticed any employer efforts over the past year to address sexual harassment at work. Alaska, United, and Spirit have led the industry in addressing this issue.
From PBS:
From the FBI
In April 2018, the FBI began an awareness program about Inflight Sexual Assault on Aircrafts.
Crimes aboard aircraft fall within the FBI’s jurisdiction, and in the case of in-flight sexual assaults, agents describe elements of these crimes as being strikingly similar. The attacks generally occur on long-haul flights when the cabin is dark. The victims are usually in middle or window seats, sleeping, and covered with a blanket or jacket. They report waking up to their seatmate’s hands inside their clothing or underwear.
FBI Suggests how to protect yourself from In-flight Sexual Assault
- Trust your gut. Offenders will often test their victims, sometimes pretending to brush against them to see how they react or if they wake up. “Don’t give them the benefit of the doubt.” If such behavior occurs, reprimand the person immediately, and consider asking to be moved to another seat.
- Recognize that mixing alcohol with sleeping pills or other medication on an overnight flight increases your risk. “Don’t knock yourself out with alcohol or drugs.”
- If your seatmate is a stranger, no matter how polite he or she may seem, keep the armrest between you down.
- If you are arranging for a child to fly unaccompanied, try to reserve an aisle seat so flight attendants can keep a closer watch on them. Victims have been children as young as 8 years old.
- If an incident happens, report it immediately to the flight crew and ask that they record the attacker’s identity and report the incident. “Flight attendants and captains represent authority on the plane.” . “We don’t want them to be police officers, but they can alert law enforcement, and they can sometimes deal with the problem in the air.” The flight crew can also put the offender on notice, which might prevent further problems.
