A 25-year-old woman says she was forced back into her seat beside a man who had just masturbated in front of her, moments before her United Express flight touched down in Newark. She says the ordeal unfolded on Flight 3626 from Rochester, New York, on September 3, and that United's response afterward left her feeling dismissed rather than protected.
According to Simple Flying, the woman said the man seated next to her, whom she believed to be between 35 and 40 years old, began masturbating while staring at her during the flight. As reported by TMZ, the woman said she believed the man had done this kind of thing before. She immediately reported the incident to flight staff, but the plane was full, and staff told her there were no other seats to move her to.
Standing in the Aisle to Get Away
Unable to change seats, the woman said she stood in the aisle for much of the remaining flight rather than sit beside the man again. As the plane began its descent into Newark Liberty International Airport, she says flight attendants asked her to return to her seat. Per the Times of India, attendants told her it would only be for three to five minutes, but the landing took longer than that, leaving her seated beside him well past the promised window.
Once the plane landed, the man reportedly deplaned without incident. The woman said he was not stopped at any point and was able to walk off the aircraft in Newark, disappearing into the terminal without facing any apparent consequences, the same report notes.
A $100 Credit and a Gate Agent's Response
The woman said a United gate agent later told her that filing a police report was her own responsibility, not the airline's, according to the same account. She said she went ahead and filed complaints with both the FAA and the FBI following the flight. United ultimately gave her a $100 flight credit, which she said covered only about a quarter of the roughly $400 the trip had cost her.
United told the Times of India that it was looking into the report but did not have anything additional to share at this time. The airline has not said whether law enforcement was ever notified about the incident aboard the flight.
Echoes of a 2018 Complaint
This is not the first time United has faced criticism over how it handled an alleged in-flight lewd act. Simple Flying's report notes that in 2018, the airline was involved in a similar case in which it offered a female passenger just $75 after a male seatmate exposed himself beside her; Chicago police said at the time that the airline had not contacted them about that incident.
Separately, New York law defines public lewdness in the first degree as intentionally exposing one's private or intimate parts in a lewd manner, according to New York Penal Law. It remains unclear whether that statute would apply to the conduct described aboard the flight or which jurisdiction, if any, would be responsible for reviewing it.
