Man allegedly raped woman while passengers slept on United flight from Newark to London
A British air passenger was arrested for allegedly raping a woman in business class on a flight headed to London from Newark, New Jersey, United States. The man allegedly forced the woman to have sex with him while other passengers slept during the London-bound flight. The alleged victim complained about the incident to the United Airlines cabin crew, who then called the police to report the allegations. Met Police boarded the flight at Heathrow Terminal 2 and the 40-year-old accused was detained and led off the plane.
On Monday last week at 6.39 am, the accused was arrested and taken into custody at Heathrow police station where his dabs, mugshot, and a DNA saliva sample were taken. Met Officers carried out a thorough forensic search of the luxury cabin that charged passengers around $4000 for a return flight.
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The accused was later released on bail pending further investigation and the woman went through rape counseling where she was interviewed by specialist officers. Both the accused and the victim were reportedly sitting in separate rows in United Airlines' first-class and had previously been chatting and drinking together in the lounge area.
A source said that the victim claimed she was raped when others onboard the flight were asleep. The woman, who is also 40, was distraught and reported the horrifying ordeal to cabin staff who informed the police and waited for the plane to land. “She was upset and told cabin crew, who radioed ahead to police, who were waiting as the plane landed,” a source informed.
“The parties were apparently unknown to each other beforehand but had apparently been seen talking to each other and drinking before and during the flight,” the source added. “She was in a lot of pain...Police took it very seriously, and forensic officers thoroughly examined the area of the plane where it was said to have occurred,” the source further explained.
In a related incident in 2020, two JetBlue pilots allegedly drugged three women crew members while they were on a layover in Puerto Rico and raped two of the women while the third was left vomiting after being drugged.
The Brooklyn suit alleges that the crew members had met pilots Eric Johnson and Dan Watson on the beach in San Juan on May 9, 2018. According to the Washington Post, the women had begun drinking beer with the men when they learned that they were pilots with JetBlue.
The lawsuit which was filed read, "The beer was laced with a drug, and after that point, the rest of the night became a blur for [the women]." Both women and a third crew member found themselves at the Intercontinental Hotel along with the pilots.