A 25-year-old woman who alleges a fellow passenger masturbated while staring at her on a United Express flight says she was later made to sit beside him again before he was allowed to leave without being questioned.
The paediatric crisis therapist said the incident happened on a September 3 flight from Rochester, New York, to Newark, New Jersey. She told NBC News that the man, whom she estimated to be aged between 35 and 40, appeared “pretty normal looking” and “unassuming”, and was wearing hiking trousers and a T-shirt.
She said she immediately moved away after noticing what was happening and alerted members of the cabin crew. Flight attendants reportedly allowed her to stand for much of the approximately one-hour journey.
However, as the aircraft prepared to land, she claimed staff told her to return to her original seat because there were no others available.
“On multiple instances, I said I feel uncomfortable doing that,” she told NBC News.
According to the woman, she was told she would need to sit beside the man for only about five minutes while the plane landed. But because the pair were seated towards the rear of the aircraft, she said she remained beside him for considerably longer as other passengers left the plane.
She claimed the man then walked away without being questioned by police or other authorities. When she raised the matter with a worker at the gate, she said she was asked: “What am I supposed to do about it?”
United Airlines investigates passenger complaint
The woman subsequently complained to United Airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration, and contacted the FBI.
She said United later referred in an email to “behaviour from another passenger that caused you concern”, language she described as “offensive” and “blaming”.
“I did remove myself and ask for help,” she said. “Additionally, framing public masturbation as ‘behaviour that caused me concern’ implies that what occurred could somehow be perceived as acceptable.”
She said it was “the first time I’ve been purposely trapped by people who were supposed to be helping me”. United offered her a 100 US dollar flight credit, despite her original journey costing about 400 US dollars, she claimed.
United has launched an investigation into the incident.
“The safety of our customers and colleagues is our top priority,” a United spokesperson said. “We take these matters seriously and are looking into what happened. We have been in contact with the customer and apologised for her experience.”
The complaint comes amid other cases involving alleged sexual misconduct on aircraft. In 2022, a passenger accused of exposing himself and masturbating several times on a Southwest flight from Seattle to Phoenix was met by police and FBI agents after landing. He later pleaded guilty to a federal lewd-acts charge and was sentenced to 48 days in prison and probation.
In a separate case in 2024, a man accused of masturbating and exposing himself on an Etihad flight to Boston was arrested after another passenger alerted a flight attendant. He later pleaded guilty to a federal charge and received two years’ probation and a 5,000 US dollar fine.
