Funny, but something similar happened to me while on Amtrak when I was about the same age. The male passenger next to me spooned me, and groped my breasts while I was half asleep. I was so stunned and sleepy that it did take me a bit of time to react, even though I've confronted people loudly over less when I've been fully awake. You're so shocked that someone would actually invade your personal space that it takes a minute or more to react. Everything stated earlier about her age being a factor, I agree with, absolutely. I'm sure that was a reason why she was targeted - not only because of the "young and pretty" bit, but because younger women are still growing into themselves and not always as assertive.

So, for obvious reasons, my sympathy is with this poor woman. But I also agree with those who say that the airline does appear to hold some responsibility here. Many airline stewards have become cranky towards passengers and ignore them over much more minor incidents, such as liquids being spilled on their person or a broken seat.

It's their goddamn job, though. If you don't want to be in the service industry, if you don't like problem-solving for people, then find a new line of work.

It appears that the man moved into the seat and began masturbating, *before* the pilot made his announcement. During that time, the stewards make a round of the cabin, ask people to turn off various electronic equipment, and then lock into their seats. Someone was negligent here, and it probably had to do with a rushed schedule (as the incident with the urine-soaked seat did).

Do I think she deserves a quarter of a million dollars? Probably not. She does deserve a public apology and airing of her grievance, not this typical CYA bullshit, and unfortunately she probably had to get a lawsuit to do it.

best comment on entire post.

Very late to this as I am reading the years worst. 1 Thing I did not see in the last 166 posts. How much alcohol did aa sel this perv. Just a thought.

@thelushie:
It is very late for this reply. I am reading the years worst. I felt the need to coment on how much I like your comment. As the father of 6 daughters I am a manly man and so is my only son we would have both gone to jail but the perv would have gone to the hospital. I often wish for someone to protect from the world but sadly to often my view of right and wrong is not shared. From the screaming child hitting their mother to the drunk asshole mistreating his girlfriend my attempts at intervention have been rebuffed but not every time. I wish everyones daughters would be safe from this type of thing.

i was on a bus in santa monica once and there was a guy in the seat across from me and he was masturbating too and staring at me. i got off at the next exit. i was freaked out

I am not really sure who this woman thinks she is, but the people working for the airline are not paid the be her bodyguard and they are not her personal assistants or the local police department. I think it is stupid that she should sue the airline. Next she will sue the passengers that saw it. For all I know the guy may have been itching his balls or adjusting himself. She's a dumb bitch and I hope her dumb ass looses in court.

I see. I was going off the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website which defines Sexual Assualt:

"Sexual assault and abuse is any type of sexual activity that you do not agree to, including:

Sexual assault can be verbal, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. Examples of this are voyeurism (when someone watches private sexual acts), exhibitionism (when someone exposes him/herself in public), incest (sexual contact between family members), and sexual harassment. It can happen in different situations, by a stranger in an isolated place, on a date, or in the home by someone you know."

Not sure what the deal is, but I guess my source was wrong. I guess then this would be simple assualt? Much like spitting on someone? Seems kinda sad that the law is this way.

SEXUAL ASSAULT.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person:
(1) intentionally or knowingly:
(A) causes the penetration of the anus or sexual organ of another person by any means, without that person's consent;
(B) causes the penetration of the mouth of
another person by the sexual organ of the actor, without that
person's consent; or
(C) causes the sexual organ of another person,
without that person's consent, to contact or penetrate the mouth,
anus, or sexual organ of another person, including the actor [§ 22.011].

And the US Code requires contact as well,

The term "sexual assault" means any conduct prescribed by chapter 109A of title 18, whether or not the conduct occurs in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison and includes both assaults committed by offenders who are strangers to the victim and assaults committed by offenders who are known or related by blood or marriage to the victim
[§ 13925].

And if you look in chapter 109A of title 18, you'll find that all the conduct requires contact to be classified as sexual assault.

@ecwis: sexual assualt under federal law does not require physical contact.

The texas law re: sexual assault seems to define rape only and is not similar to their definition of non-sexual assault.

And I did looked up "sexual assault" for Texas and it does require physical (sexual) contact to be classified as sexual assault. If you found the NJ laws, I'm sure you can find the Texas laws as well.

@Claystil: "Sexual Assault" is a legal term and requires contact to be classified as such, at least in Texas.

@Nagumo: you seem to have some serious shortcomings in your understanding of our nation's legal system.

Maybe the guy wanted to fly united.

no they do have to protect you just let me carry my gun on for stuff like this and were even.

I would have killed his ass period

This is by far the best comment I've read on this story. I'm thinking some of the commenters also need a stranger's load in their own faces, since they find sexual assault so amusing (or as one mentioned, only amusing in the context of women).

If you're going to joke about the victim at least use creative examples; Dane Cook-style phrases that have been repeated 1000 times that day just don't cut it.

I live in NYC, so if I had a nickel for every exposed penis I've seen on the streets, in the trains, etc. I'd never have to work again. However, when this kind of incident happens in a place you least expect, it can take a few seconds for "WTF?!" to travel from your brain to your voice (or fist). If there's any doubt to what you're seeing and you react accordingly, you will be at best humilated by the flight attendant and passengers, and at worst arrested.

If you're trapped at 30,000 feet, yeah I think you have the right not to expect to see some stranger's nubbin (and associated fluids).

@cde: good answers, but ultimately the suit claims that AA noticed the man move seats and did nothing about it. All this happened BEFORE descent, meaning he had time to masturbate while the attendants were still walking the isles.

@suzyO: well, where are they if not on earth? IN? Above? "How above earth..."

@ecwis: I see that people have already showed how wrong you are but just in case you needed more evidence, this definition comes from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services:

"Sexual assault can be verbal, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. Examples of this are voyeurism (when someone watches private sexual acts), exhibitionism (when someone exposes him/herself in public), incest (sexual contact between family members), and sexual harassment. It can happen in different situations, by a stranger in an isolated place, on a date, or in the home by someone you know."

@alphafemale: I agree, it may have been more than just him ejaculating on her. He may have stole some IDs or even copied card information, or maybe he even touched her in some way that may have put her at more risk.

And about the "intent" thing, I wouldn't be surprised if they argued he didn't intend to ejaculate in her hand, it happened b/c of a natural bodily fuction. Or that her hand wandered there on its own or some other BS.

This situation disgusts me greatly, and makes me creeped out to even consider catching a few Zs on a flight. D:

Note, if she was 13 or younger, it would be Sexual Assault (2c:14-2b), if he used her hand.

If she didn't see him masturbate, he technically wouldn't have committed a crime. As it is, from what I can see in NJ statures ([www.njleg.state.nj.us] click on Statutes under Laws and Constitution on the left side bar), him simply ejaculating on her isn't a crime, if she didn't see him. It might be Lewdness (2c:14-4a when read under 2c:14-4c) if a prosecutor can convince a jury that

"a. A person commits a disorderly persons offense if he does any flagrantly lewd and offensive act which he knows or reasonably expects is likely to be observed by other nonconsenting persons who would be affronted or alarmed. "

Since he choose someone that was asleep, he could use that to his defense. He did not reasonably expect her to observe it.

Again, in NJ, indecent exposure is under Lewdness, so simple pulling his junk out would not be a crime if noone is there to observe and then be offended.
I think it relates to the whole fallen tree in a forest question.

To be fair...the man was just trying to lower the amount of semen in his pouch to less than 3.4 ounces.

And to think...if it wasn't for Susan B Anthony, the girl would have been obligated to help...

How do they know that he was, in fact, masturbating? Are we sure that he wasn't trying to "inspect" his "fuselage" for cracks?

Why is she suing AA instead of the perpetrator? Is it simply because AA has deeper pockets?

"I'm going to say something that is not politically incorrect.

She is ONLY 21 years old. Yes, I know that 21 year-olds can drink, drive, carry a gun, graduate from college, and begin a family, HOWEVER, for some folks, life takes years of living before one is truly an "adult." Merely "feeling" grown up does not make one grown up.

I am much older; I would have clobbered the guy and yelled my head off.

It would not have occurred to me to "turn toward the window in embarrassment."

Yes, I know that it depends on the person and that other 21 year-olds may have handled the situation differently, and with more assertiveness.

I know that she was traveling as a fully emancipated adult; she didn't need a note pinned to her chest, she didn't need flight attendants to accompany off the plane, she didn't need a Happy Meal, she didn't need plastic pilots wings, or a coloring book. But, when I realize that the poor thing really didn't know what to do, I truly yearn to give her a hug and a coloring book, at least for a moment, before I sent her off to an assertiveness class. My point is that 21 is still very young.

I hope the judge throws the book at this sick-o pervert who looked at this very young woman as his own personal Playboy foldout to be used for uncontrolled gratification.

This woman (very recently a "girl") is someone's daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, aunt, cousin, loved one, classmate, colleague, employee, and friend. She deserved respect. However, while this vile pig refused to respect her, our Constitution demands that she reserve the right to be left alone. For that, she will have her day in court. But, we would all be better off if the incident hadn't happened in the first place. I cannot begin to imagine how I would feel if she were my daughter.

Somehow, I doubt that this was his "first time" violating young women; perhaps the others were even more embarrassed than his latest victim. I usually fall asleep on any flight that takes longer than an hour; next time I think I'll look around a little more carefully. Sometimes, 21 year-olds can use a little bit of help along the way.

Posted by: Schopenhauer | March 15, 2008 at 05:19 PM"

Manly men? They have gone out with the dinosaurs and polite men.

Anything other questions?

This woman was sexually assaulted. That's not funny. And to the one who said that the woman was coming off as a whore...you are an idiot.

I have nothing productive to add to this other than to say that this is, by far, the most entertaining post and comment thread that I have read in a long, long time.

Good work, airplane maturbating man, good work!

As for the cabin crew doing something about it. they were on descent. Their job is to look out for passenger safety (albeit this might fall into that if you stretch the definition), clean up and stuff like that. Their job is not to look for masterbating passengers.

Still if they had caught him, they should have opened the door at about 1000 feet and chucked him out.

@halajenn: This story makes me so sad. Jokes aside, I can only imagine how trapped and horrified that poor woman felt.

What I wonder, and I'm not joking, is what the guy did when she woke up...

She wakes up, kinda cries and yells to get some help, the person in front of her comes to her aid and tells her yep, "that's jizz in your hair"

What was the guy doing, did he scamper back to his seat and pretend like nothing happened? Did he stay in the seat next to her and just tuck himself back in? Did he go "oh my god im so sorry please don't call the cops" and beg for mercy? I mean jesus h what do you do when your victim wakes up mid-molestation and you have to spend another 15 minutes on the plane with them? (and with everyone else who gets word of what happened) He must have been feeling trapped and horrified himself. Did only one person take note of her distress? Were there no manly men on board to punch the guy a couple times for good measure?

When I worked at a shoe store many years ago, a man asked me to get his size in a particular work boot, as he hands it to me I notice he's got his shorts hiked up with his penis in his other hand just stroking it. I took the shoe from him and said he might need something in a smaller size. Then ran to the back, called security and had a good old-fashioned freak out. I was pretty upset about it, but really, what pissed me off so bad was that he did this in a crowded store with children all around. How dare he.

Ok, I just have to say that 200,000 is not a huge amount of money... American Airlines is the largest airline in the whole wide world, and their executives get year-end bonuses of millions of dollars, dang, each exec could chip in a measley 10 grand out of the millions they will get at the end of the fiscal year.

Hmm maybe the woman suing could offer them a deal, any exec willing to take a load in the face from a stranger could keep his 10 g's. If 20 execs agree to facials, they wouldn't have to part with any money at all.

There was a lot more information on this remarkably similar incident.

@suzyO: How could they miss it? It was a night flight, landing about 11 p.m. I assume he didn't turn on the overhead light. Many other passengers might have been sleeping.

@j-yo: By starting with a threat of $750,000. That's like 73% off!

Now I see what the big fuss was over the girls that were 'too hot to fly'. Maybe the airlines had something there after all.

yay for claystil vis a vis "A woman was sexually assaulted by a man who moved seats in flight, masturbated and ejaculated on her head. How on earth could a flight crew not notice and act accordingly?"

How on earth, indeed? Well, they're not ON the earth, but that's totally beside the point.

@Claystil: well i do have a perverted sense of humor. if it makes you feel any better, i meant to delete my previous comment, but i brainfarted and hit submit by accident. i want the op to know that despite the fact i find it humorus as after the fact, if i would have been there i would have helped her, even if that meant i was going to jail for whoopin that dudes ass. so us jokesters aren't all bad. but it's chris walters fault for mentioning something about mary, and making me go into the comments already smiling.

sorry to throw you under the bus there chris, you know we're homies still right?

@snoop-blog: My point is simply that there are a LOT of people in this world who live every day with the lasting negative psychological effects of sexual assault. I wouldn't make a joke about sexual assault to their face, and I'd like to hope no one would. The likeliehood that many victims of sexual assault have and will read this comments is high. So joking here is not all that different from making the joke in their presence. If it's funny to you, why can't you keep it to yourself? It's not funny to everyone and it hurts some.

@Claystil: it's just shocking to hear, and some people use humor to cope with it. no one on here feels like she deserved this and it is horrible. with that said though, my friends would never let me hear the end of it if it was me. i'd forever be known as the guy who got jizzed on at work. and i can't say i wouldn't be able to laugh with them cause i would. it's like laughing at someone because they got pee'd on. c'mon, it's a little funny. i laugh when people get hurt sometimes, it's funny!

@Dooley: +100 points for you!!

$200k? Uh.... The creep should pay dearly but I think American is being taken advantage of.

Wonder why prices of various goods and commodities go up?

@snoop-blog: I think your analogies miss the fact that this woman was cornered on a plane and this was sexual assault, not exposure or streaking.

Though, regardless of what we here conclude, the decision as to whether or not AA is liable will ultimately come in court and the POS who perpetrated the act will now have to register as a sex offender.

I just really wish the joking would stop.

I was a flight attendant years ago and I can tell you that, if I had seen a guy move next to a sleeping woman in the middle of the flight, I would have been highly suspicious and would have kept a watch on the perv. I agree the airline should share some liability; on the other hand, I'm not sure they should share $200,000 worth of liability. Where do people get these figures?

I guess yo mama's used to it.

I started hollering a blue streak and trying to shove him away from me (which was kinda difficult since I was wearing my seatbelt). The FA ran up and ordered him to an empty row (this was before epic overbooking became the norm), but I was never asked if I wanted to press charges and the perv followed me off the plane and watched me get into a cab.

i don't see how aa can be responsible for the acts of others. ex: how can they ensure no-one will shout out obceneties or, pee in the seat, etc....

the guy got arrested, he was not representing the airline. how can they guarantee no one will whip out their penis? i mean they'd have to assign a cockwatcher for every male passenger, and i bet i'd still be able to whip mine out if i wanted to. i'm not tiny, it would take a pretty decently sized guy to physically stop me from doin it. so i just can't see blaming aa. if a streaker runs out during a football game, you wouldn't be able to sue the nfl. if a woman got raped in a public restroom, you can't sue for that either.

And yes, I do think AA is liable; you're trapped on an airplane for the duration of a flight. It's not like other modes of transportation, where you can get off at the next stop or switch cars if someone's bothering you, or call the cops about the creepy guy in the station. Consequently I believe that that airlines assume a reasonable level of responsibility for your safety and comfort while you're on board. Surely that includes appropriate action against rogue masturbators.

Isn't this why the icon of the attendant on the call button is holding a cup? I thought this was meant to indicate a sperm receptable is needed.

@Dooley: i nominate your comment @ 1:19 for comment of the day. but there were some close seconds,

@BugMeNot2: @11:36

@LionelEHutz: @10:22

@ClayS: @ 9:45

AA absolutely should be liable. A woman was sexually assaulted by a man who moved seats in flight, masturbated and ejaculated on her head. How on earth could a flight crew not notice and act accordingly?

On the subject of joking. I understand to some degree the desire to make humor of sexual topics, but keep in mind that this woman, like SO many in the world was the victim of sexual assault. Joking might not hurt you or the other commentors, but it's very likely that a victim of sexual assault will come by and read the comments here and anyone who has a friend or family member who's been sexually assualted will know how precisely insesistive and harmful it can be to make jokes out of such a serious matter. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but please keep this simple fact in mind before you post.

@UX4themasses said "Taking out the intent of the masturbator, does this mean that anytime I get sneezed on, farted on, coughed on, or in the case recently, THROWN UP ON... I can cash in on 200K?"

How can you 'take out the intent'? Intent is a pretty important part of the equation. I might even be so bold as to say that it's the only part that really matters. Any lawyers in the house want to tell us how important intent is? Accidents happen, people get sick (especially on planes), but someone puking on you unintentionally, nasty as it is, is very different than some guy getting his jollies by blowing a wad on you while you snooze.

Yep. Sick. Immature. And FUNNY.

Now I must bow out of this thread and head on over to Fleshbot.

I think she should have smacked the crap out of him, instead of being embarrassed. Then maybe started kicking him where it mattered. He'd probably think twice about doing anything like that again - if he would even be able.

Just because you give a name to the type of joke it is, doesn't stop making it sick.

@Thomas Palmer:

Lighten up, they are just dick jokes.

So, she called for the flight attendant, who never came.

However, the guy next to her did.

Wow, I'm usually pretty easy going when it comes to getting spooged on...
but this is just icky. 200k is a reasonable amount, that's not even a 1/4 million... Seems a good amount to make sure AA reminds the attendents to keep a reasonable eye out for the safety of the passengers from other passengers. If AA wants to recoup the loss, let them seek restitution from the jerker in question.

Let's say he wasn't jerking off on her.... what if instead he was slipping her wallet out of her purse as she slept and stealing a couple of credit cards and slipping the wallet back into her purse? Same goes for the fellas, what if some dude slid over and rifled thru your carry on bag while you slept? What then? Those actions could be done just as surreptitiously, if not more so, than rubbing one out.

I don't expect the attendents to be hawks, and perhaps they simply would never have expected something like this to happen... but I bet they'll be paying more attention to aisle hoppers from now on.

--

I was in a walgreens a couple years ago, it was I think a Friday night around 10pm or so, and I was in the hair dye aisle (yes I am a wild one, hitting the walgreens on friday:/) .... when I notice this young guy, maybe 20 or so, standing next to me. Looking at the hair dye. And I notice that he's inching closer to me, I'm just facing forward to the shelves, but had my eyeballs all twisted over to the side trying to figure out what the dude was up to, when I notice he has a huge boner. Total tent city. I actually think he was aiming to brush it up against me cause he was getting that close... I stepped back and heartily shouted, "Dude with a boner in aisle 4! There he goes! That's him running away!"

I actually called the cops (who never showed up >:o) because the kind of guy who tries to rub his dick against strange chicks in the walgreens is seriously disturbed.

Did you say you wanted "cream" in your coffee?

@Phineas Poe: Yeah, isn't that what the warm towels are for?

Is this one of the Southwest girls who claimed they were treated poorly for being too pretty? [consumerist.com]

15 minutes of fame not enough?

I'm not sure if she should get money from AA (tho she probably will), but it really frustrates me that no one said anything, even though there were other people who presumably had a view.

And as far as landing . . . unless they were actively landing at the time, aren't flight attendants prowling the aisles making sure everyone is belted in, not moving, and ready for landing?

In any case, a gross and horrid situation all around :-/

Now I'm kinda glad that I can never fall asleep on airplanes.

@unklegwar:
Ah, the money seeking consumer. Masturbating dude has no money, so, how to cash in...Oh! Sue the Airline!

Taking out the intent of the masturbator, does this mean that anytime I get sneezed on, farted on, coughed on, or in the case recently, THROWN UP ON... I can cash in on 200K? In my case the flight crew was also unable to help when my neighbor threw up on the floor (forgetting the included 'bag') and all over me. They left the regurgitating person next to me even though he was clearly sick (and thew up two more times into bags). The plane was full and there was nowhere to move me or him.

A homeless guy exposed himself on the street of my city, I should sue the city for not removing him before the act!

Nicely done.

:O

Correct Solution: Punch offender in face. Repeat until "satisfied".

Whenever I went to adult movie theatres I was so pissed off when some creepy guy sat next to me and started masturbating.

@weakdome:

With the tagline:

"I'm tired of all this M-Fing trouser snakes on my M-Fing plane!"

AA will probably pay her a small amount to go away, but it's a real reach to blame the flight attendants.

Disgusting!

PERVS ON A PLANE!

Wow, I'm going to sue The Consumerist for exposing me to this story about a woman being masturbated on. For not properly protecting me from such filth. What the man did was despicable, no doubt about it, criminal in fact. Unless the flight crew had any idea what he was going to do they have ZERO responsibility! PERIOD! For the readers that are saying yea yea sue! Remember that the next time you complain about the state and cost of health care in this country because it is directly as a result of our litigious society.

Not the in-flight nuts she was looking for. [crickets]
On a serious note, why was he allowed to move? Is the plane so big this wasn't noticed? God, is hell big enough to hold all of these freaks?

I presume this happened in first class. $200,000 sounds like an awful lot for an indicent of this type in coach.

Of course, from that point forward, I'd be known as the guy who jacked it on a plane.

way to go lady, sue the airlines for $200,000. now the airlines are going to pass on that little incident to us fliers as a "plane flight crew security fee" for another $75 on the ticket price.

you think you're hurting the people that failed, but really you're hurting all of us. thanks again, lady, for making us all responsible for your bad experience.

Yea, she tried to get the flight attendants attention, but the plane was getting ready to land - so obviously the flight attendants were a little busy. And once they got things done, they were able to call the police and get action taken care of.

I've only taken a few flights myself, but if I remember correctly, landing is one of the busiest times for the flight attendants so if they did not have time to give her 100% of their time during that time, it looks like they did so as soon as possible since the guy was taken into custody by the police.

She should sue the guy, too!

Agreed! What he had AIDS and some of the semen dripped down into her eyes/into a small cut on her head/any other porous place on her body, giving her a potentially fatal and incurable disease? Now, I don't think she should hold the Airline responsible, as what flight attendant walks up and down the aisles looking for guys masturbating.... I do think though that she should've been able to get a flight attendant a bit easier.

@ExecutorElassus:

It transferred to her hair from her hand.

Which I would interpret to mean he used her hand in lieu of a tissue while she was sleeping.

I don't find this at all funny. In the 90's when I was traveling with my two children, who were 9 and 11 at the time, we had a similar incident.

We were on a southwest flight, one of those flying bus flights that made 4 stops before our final destination. The kids and I were sitting in those seats that faced each other, but by Kansas city the flight was full.

This guy gets on the plane with his girlfriend, and a pile of newspapers on his lap. Throughout the flight, he would reach his hand under the newspapers, which would bounce up and down, all the while staring at my 9 year old daughter.

I asked the flight attendant to do something. Her answer was, "Well he isn't exposing himself, and the plane is full so we can't move you."

After we landed, I complained again to the flight attendant, I complained to the pilot. I complained to the people at the Southwest desk. I even wrote a letter to SW complaining of the incident to which they never responded. I have only flown SW once since then, without incident, and only because the tickets were free.

I don't know how I feel about AA being sued, but it seems to me like its the only way they take this kind of thing seriously.

C'mon, it's not their job. They barely can keep the planes in the air.

@flyingphotog:

I agree -- its about walking the aisle. Granted, it could have happened if the guy was assigned to the seat originally and the attendants were seated for landing. But, as a policy, airlines should not allow someone to switch seats next a passenger who is sleeping. It is a bit creepy.

At the least, she should be able to hit the guy for intentional infliction of emotional distress (IANAL).
If he has any assets worth getting.

@ExecutorElassus: YES. Goodness yes. Also, I think yelling "THIS PERVERT JUST PUT SEMEN IN MY HAIR!" while beating the piss out of him would have gotten alot more attention than softly crying.

I think a description of what she did to get the flight attendants' attention would be helpful.

Anyway, if you wanted to go along the lines that you claim where "a flight attendant's #1 job is to keep you alive," then the flight attendants should have stopped the man. Bodily fluids are a health risk. Ask any doctor. That is why it was unsanitary if a boy added the same bodily fluid to a open mayonnaise jar in school (referencing to an event last year).

typical man for ya, only worried about himself.

ps - I'd like to know more details about what the woman did to try to get the attention of the flight crew.... reasonable effort, or what? yes, it sucks, but doesn't seem to be AA's fault.

UPDATE: the man got away scott free under the first amendment. apparently it was a political demonstration because he had "i like bush" tattooed on his thingy.

It's worth 200,000.

The only fault I could possibly find with the woman is that she should have started screaming bloody murder the minute she realized what this guy was doing. But people all have differing ways of dealing with things.

@Skrizzy:
" think she's going after AA for not giving her attention when she was asking for it. She really should be going after the guy for the money however."

AA probably has a lot more money that the perpetrator.

"The guy should burn in hell."

I take it you find his actions disturbing.

This incident reminds of a game at Yankee stadium a good while back. I wasn't there, but a friend of mine was. He witnessed a man urinating off the end of the stadium tier, onto the heads of fans seated below. That could ruin one's day as well.

@Rectilinear Propagation: I think the problem is that the plane was on final approach, thus all the flight attendants were already seated for landing.

And while I'm not blaming the woman at all, I just don't understand why she didn't knock the everliving crap out of him...

200,000.00 Jeez even Elliot Spitzer wouldn't pay that.
She should take it as a compliment.

@snoop-blog:
That sounds like a good defense on the man's part. He needed a tissue, looked around, there was no flight attendant in sight, and he did the only thing he could do.

Glad to see that the airlines are starting to bring back the complimentary in-flight items. I'm not sure how many passengers are going to need emergency hair gel, but it's a thoughful gesture.

In all seriousness, that is really gross. I'm not sure if the airline is to blame, but that's for the courts to decide. I'm glad the dude was arrested, though.

This woman should have screamed or something. Its not like the guy was gonna pull a knife on her or something. You can't get knives on.... oh wait.

@Rectilinear Propagation: TPS.....tiny penis syndrome.

The guy should burn in hell.

The woman began to cry and tried to get the attention of a flight attendant, but was unsuccessful, the suit states.

jeez i need more coffee yall. sorry for the typos.

yeah the fa should have totally gave the man a comlimentary tissue.

i know this is sad, but, at first i was lmao!!! i can't help but wonder if what this woman looks like! j/k.

She needs to sue the man who did it - not the airline.

Of course, suing the airline could mean more money, so I'm sure that is why she took that route.

Next week, we will have a story to blame the airline staff for not letting someone's child move to an empty seat next to them after the plane is in the air and it is obvious the seat is empty.

The act was caught - the man was arrested. What more should have happened?

@Moosehawk: Holy Sperm

I feel for her, and that is gross, but why is this American Airline's fault? The guy is a perv and should be prosecuted but I fail to see why she should be compensated for this.