Jennifer Rafieyan says she and her 12-year-old daughter were awaiting takeoff on a United Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Phoenix last month when they watched a flight attendant seat a visibly drunk man in the empty aisle seat next to them.

The man was intoxicated enough that the attendant had to guide him by his hips, Rafieyan recalled, and two attendants warned her about him.

“[One attendant] made some comment to me like, ‘This is going to be an interesting flight,’ and looked at him,” Rafieyan, 47, said. “And then the other flight attendant came up and said, ‘Let me know if you need anything. I mean it’― and she looked at him.”

Over the course of the next five and a half hours, Rafieyan says the 64-year-old repeatedly groped her and sexually harassed her. He rubbed her legs, grabbed her knee, kissed her hands, put his head on her shoulder and snatched her pen and notepad to add “PASIONAT NITE XX” to the to-do list she was writing, she said.

“That really grossed me out,” Rafieyan said. “My daughter was right there.”

Rafieyan, a married mother of two from Warren, New Jersey, said she was too “meek” to confront the man.

“I don’t react well. I freeze,” she said. “When a man is inappropriate with me, I usually just run from it and maybe tell somebody. But I felt trapped. I couldn’t leave the seat because I didn’t trust him near my daughter.”

caliboy93 wrote:

There are good flight attendants on United too! I flew to ORD many years ago and some of them were giving me random fist bumps.

Eirules wrote:

I'm kinda sick of all these people crawling out of the woodwork with their anti United stories. They may all be true but they don't happen to any other airline in any other country?

727200 wrote:

This woman waited an entire month to come out with this story? If it was that bad just maybe she would have said something before, preferably as she was getting off the plane. 15-minutes of fame over.

ChrisFallon77 wrote:

How long will it be before we see all the "air ambulance chasers" lawyers come out of the woodwork.

11725Flyer wrote:

And the beat goes on.

http://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus ... story.html

Eirules wrote:

I'm kinda sick of all these people crawling out of the woodwork with their anti United stories. They may all be true but they don't happen to any other airline in any other country?

PlanesNTrains wrote:

I'm sure we're going to here a lot more stories, and I'm sure there are plenty of stories at other airlines. It's going to be a big story until a bigger one comes along.

ikramerica wrote:

"I'm too meek" to defend myself.

No sympathy. The first time he touches intentionally like that you yell at him and call the FA.

It's a public environment. You aren't in danger of escalating. And you would set a strong example for your daughter.

ikramerica wrote:

It's a public environment. You aren't in danger of escalating. And you would set a strong example for your daughter.

hoya wrote:

So given everything that has happened, and all the arguments for the doctor, did UA have the right to kick this drunk guy off the flight? What were they to do? He wasn't a threat to the safety of the aircraft. He was in his seat, he boarded. So, now that UA pledged not to have LEOs come on aircraft and forcibly remove passengers, what's the recourse? At the moment he sat down, he wasn't belligerent or committing any crimes (sexual harassment came later, during the flight). In the future, if the same situation happens, what should an airline do?

dcaviation wrote:

ikramerica wrote:

It's a public environment. You aren't in danger of escalating. And you would set a strong example for your daughter.

Yes its public environment, and the doctor got shit kicked out of him.

Most of the flight attendants don't give a shit. You tell them that somebody is unruly next to you and all they will do is tell you 'tough luck'.
Or FA will tell you to be quiet, otherwise you will be arrested upon landing for disobeying flight crew.

Obviously that drunk passenger was GS or 1K. FA would be on his side. That's the sad truth.

hoya wrote:

So given everything that has happened, and all the arguments for the doctor, did UA have the right to kick this drunk guy off the flight? What were they to do? He wasn't a threat to the safety of the aircraft. He was in his seat, he boarded. So, now that UA pledged not to have LEOs come on aircraft and forcibly remove passengers, what's the recourse? At the moment he sat down, he wasn't belligerent or committing any crimes (sexual harassment came later, during the flight). In the future, if the same situation happens, what should an airline do?

gregn21 wrote:

This is such a joke. Just shows how corrupt and horrible the media is. They are willing to destroy the fate of an entire company for more views.

dcaviation wrote:

Obviously that drunk passenger was GS or 1K. FA would be on his side. That's the sad truth.

PlanesNTrains wrote:

Two separate flight attendants told her to call them if there were problems.

hoya wrote:

So given everything that has happened, and all the arguments for the doctor, did UA have the right to kick this drunk guy off the flight? What were they to do? He wasn't a threat to the safety of the aircraft. He was in his seat, he boarded. So, now that UA pledged not to have LEOs come on aircraft and forcibly remove passengers, what's the recourse? At the moment he sat down, he wasn't belligerent or committing any crimes (sexual harassment came later, during the flight). In the future, if the same situation happens, what should an airline do?

gregn21 wrote:

This is such a joke. Just shows how corrupt and horrible the media is. They are willing to destroy the fate of an entire company for more views.

IPFreely wrote:

dcaviation wrote:

Obviously that drunk passenger was GS or 1K. FA would be on his side. That's the sad truth.

Very doubtful that a GS or 1K, especially a GS, would be sitting in coach.

PlanesNTrains wrote:

Two separate flight attendants told her to call them if there were problems.

They did?

PlanesNTrains wrote:

The man was intoxicated enough that the attendant had to guide him by his hips, Rafieyan recalled, and two attendants warned her about him.

“[One attendant] made some comment to me like, ‘This is going to be an interesting flight,’ and looked at him,” Rafieyan, 47, said. “And then the other flight attendant came up and said, ‘Let me know if you need anything. I mean it’― and she looked at him.”

You got me. One said "Call me if...", the other showed "concern".

IPFreely wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

The man was intoxicated enough that the attendant had to guide him by his hips, Rafieyan recalled, and two attendants warned her about him.

“[One attendant] made some comment to me like, ‘This is going to be an interesting flight,’ and looked at him,” Rafieyan, 47, said. “And then the other flight attendant came up and said, ‘Let me know if you need anything. I mean it’― and she looked at him.”

You got me. One said "Call me if...", the other showed "concern".

Sorry but I'm not taking her word for that when she was quoted by the Huffington Post, attributing a quote to a flight attendant about an incident she suddenly remembered that happened weeks ago. Pretty low credibility.

PlanesNTrains wrote:

Well, that's your choice. I'm sure if there's proof, it'll come out. There were obviously other passengers around, a record of who was next to her, her daughter's statements, interviews with the F/As, receipts from his debit/credit card showing alcohol purchases, receipts from the drinks he ordered on the flight, etc. I don't care one way or the other, though. I'm just sharing what was stated in the article in answer to your query.

IPFreely wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

Well, that's your choice. I'm sure if there's proof, it'll come out. There were obviously other passengers around, a record of who was next to her, her daughter's statements, interviews with the F/As, receipts from his debit/credit card showing alcohol purchases, receipts from the drinks he ordered on the flight, etc. I don't care one way or the other, though. I'm just sharing what was stated in the article in answer to your query.

Normally when there are crimes or potential crimes on board, police are notified and meet the plane at the gate on arrival. In extreme cases the plane might divert so the passenger can be removed and dealt with by police sooner. In this case the woman said the FA threatened to have the plane diverted because of his behavior. If his behavior was bad enough to warrant such a threat -- not something done lightly -- it was surely bad enough to have the police meet the plane on arrival in Phoenix. To at least take statements and document the incident in a report, if not to make an arrest. But no such thing happened. The more one looks at the details, the less believable this story becomes.

IPFreely wrote:

Normally when there are crimes or potential crimes on board, police are notified and meet the plane at the gate on arrival. In extreme cases the plane might divert so the passenger can be removed and dealt with by police sooner. In this case the woman said the FA threatened to have the plane diverted because of his behavior. If his behavior was bad enough to warrant such a threat -- not something done lightly -- it was surely bad enough to have the police meet the plane on arrival in Phoenix. To at least take statements and document the incident in a report, if not to make an arrest. But no such thing happened. The more one looks at the details, the less believable this story becomes.

ikramerica wrote:

"I'm too meek" to defend myself.

No sympathy. The first time he touches intentionally like that you yell at him and call the FA.

It's a public environment. You aren't in danger of escalating. And you would set a strong example for your daughter.

ASFlyer wrote:

I want some money too. I'm gonna have to come up with a good story of my own.

vrbarreto wrote:

ASFlyer wrote:

I want some money too. I'm gonna have to come up with a good story of my own.

Claim the pilot asked if you had ever seen a grown man naked or been to a Turkish prison.

peterinlisbon wrote:

vrbarreto wrote:

ASFlyer wrote:

I want some money too. I'm gonna have to come up with a good story of my own.

Claim the pilot asked if you had ever seen a grown man naked or been to a Turkish prison.

They will just say that you asked for it because you said you wanted to go into the cockpit.

b747400erf wrote:

peterinlisbon wrote:

vrbarreto wrote:

Claim the pilot asked if you had ever seen a grown man naked or been to a Turkish prison.

They will just say that you asked for it because you said you wanted to go into the cockpit.

accusations of sexual assault are hilarious. Maybe your spouse/signifiant other/friend/family gets to experience sexual assault in the future and then you might change your attitudes.

IPFreely wrote:

PlanesNTrains wrote:

The man was intoxicated enough that the attendant had to guide him by his hips, Rafieyan recalled, and two attendants warned her about him.

“[One attendant] made some comment to me like, ‘This is going to be an interesting flight,’ and looked at him,” Rafieyan, 47, said. “And then the other flight attendant came up and said, ‘Let me know if you need anything. I mean it’― and she looked at him.”

You got me. One said "Call me if...", the other showed "concern".

Sorry but I'm not taking her word for that when she was quoted by the Huffington Post, attributing a quote to a flight attendant about an incident she suddenly remembered that happened weeks ago. Pretty low credibility.

vrbarreto wrote:

ASFlyer wrote:

I want some money too. I'm gonna have to come up with a good story of my own.

Claim the pilot asked if you had ever seen a grown man naked or been to a Turkish prison.

vrbarreto wrote:

b747400erf wrote:

peterinlisbon wrote:

They will just say that you asked for it because you said you wanted to go into the cockpit.

accusations of sexual assault are hilarious. Maybe your spouse/signifiant other/friend/family gets to experience sexual assault in the future and then you might change your attitudes.

Stop being a snowflake