susanna

I always worry where to sit when flying solo, window so that I can try to sleep against the wall and not drool on a stranger or aisle so that I can get up whenever I want. I also agonize over smells and size of my seatmate, BUT, I hadn't worryied about THIS....yet!

http://startelegram.typepad.com/sky_...files-law.html

SallyCanuck

Geez, what a disgusting thing...I'd sue them, too. What a pig.

And I'm flying alone soon, too.

scdreamer

Gross. I, too, will be flying (transatlantic) alone this summer. I guess with most flights going out full these days, being cramped is a good trade-off for sitting (sleeping?) solo with no witnesses.

If something like that happened to me, you can bet I would be making a HUGE amount of noise ... not crying and turning in embarrassment toward the window. But I understand this was a rather young woman who was totally frightened. I hope the guy is prosecuted as a sexual offender.

Dukey

Oh, PLEASE...if somebody was masturbating "to" me I would certainly have done something before he lost his load in my hair.

Have you ever SEEN the results of someone who screams at a flight attendant and wakes everybody up?

I think there are ways she could have gotten them to "do something."

kenderina

I just don't understand why she got embarrased and turned towards the window....I have cried out and loud for all the plane to know "HEY, THERE'S A GUY HERE MOVING HIS DICK", probably he wouldn't have load anything...

kenderina

By the way, sorry about the language But certainly I would want to make him feel embarrased , not myself !

letsgo39

That is really disgusting but so are the comments by the freaks who commented on that board.

AAFrequentFlyer

This puts a new spin on AA's slogan

<i>Something Special in the (h)Air!</i>

wanderful

The (Overly) Friendly Skies?

ipod_robbie

Make sure all equipment is in the upright position!

tinybeachbum

OMG...i would have hit him and yelled so people would have heard. but i would never have slept through it in the first place. very light sleeper.

i always choose the window. need something to lean on. i don't worry about getting up all the time, thats the aisle persons problem! LOL. they should have prebooked their seat.

bozama

The comments on that board are really sick.
And, I know how a young girl could have just turned in embarrassment, I did when I was 14 and a friend and I were exposed ( no pun intended) to a similar situation, we didn't even tell anyone, we were way too embarrassed . MOst 21 yr olds are a bit more experienced BUT, there are still 21 yr old virgins that are not hardened and would be stunned by this.

Also as for it not being the airlines responsiblitiy, bull crap,, the stewards should patrol the cabin in the night to make sure no freaking terrorist is constructing a bomb or weapon, the stewards are not just there as glorified drink servers, they are meant to act as safety officers. Many time I see the stewards just pull the galley curtain and gossip , meanwhile ignoring bells etc. . It only takes one stewart a few minutes to walk up and down the aisles, they could take turns every 15 minutes or so.

Padraig

Some of the responses here appall me. I really do not think it is a matter for joking that anybody humiliates a woman in such a way. It is also unreasonable to expect that every woman, when waking from sleep, should be psychologically geared up to cope with such an event in just the way that some people here suggest.

Proenza_Preschooler

Dukey, please, you are such the drama queen from Florida. The woman just WOKE UP from a long nap. She was probably groggy and didn't realize what was going on at first. Then, when she did realize what was happening she probably went into shock.

When I was 16, a man exposed himself to me in the hallway of a public building. I was in such shock that I FROZE! I couldn't move or yell, even though I tried. (This is how the perp got away.) I will never forget that experience of being helpless.

So, don't judge people because you don't know how you would have reacted either under similar circumstances.

Balenciaga

suze

Aisle seat, always. Then you can get up when &amp; if you need to.

Christina

How do you even know this is legitimate? That isn't exactly a great piece of journalism, and I don't know why one would trust an article by a reporter who can't spell simple words --eg, &quot;when the pilot announced the plane was on decent&quot; (sic). Actually, that's a pretty funny sentence, given the article.

I certainly know that such perverted behavior exists, but the whole story smells a bit bogus to me, at least in the details, and it's clearly a woman trying to get a lot of money from AA, so who knows how much of it is real. The woman is obviously an idiot, or a liar, possibly both -- and this incident occurred two years ago, so she has been trying for years to make a fortune in settlement.

AAFrequentFlyer

This is nothing more than a money grab. The incident happened in March 06. The statue of limitations on suing is 2 years in Texas. The lady and her lawyer were probably trying to extort money from AA for the last 2 years and it looks like AA told them to stuff it. So as a last chance they filed the suit. I'm no lawyer but unless it can be proven that one of the FAs knew about this or saw it and did nothing I don't see how AA can be blamed for some perverts actions. I have a feeling this will be settled way before it actually goes to trial for few thousand$ with the lawyer getting 1/3 off the top and the poor lady walking away with the rest.

To the poster that suggested that FAs walk around the cabin every so often. They do. It's been my experience that they do a walk around about every 30 minutes during red-eyes, but how is that going to stop a pervert from covering himself with a blanket when he sees the FA coming, waiting until s/he goes back and then continue? Let's be realistic.

AAFrequentFlyer

<b>Christina</b>,

the story is true, well as far as what the victim is alleging and the pervert did get arrested by LA police. AA actually did an official press release right after this alleged incident happened.

I would like to find out what happened to the pervert and why is he not included in the lawsuit?