A 22-year-old woman has told how she was assaulted on board a Spirit Airlines flight when she fell asleep and woke up to find a fellow passenger sticking his hand down her pants.
Tia Jackson, a student from Detroit, Michigan, said she was sleeping on the Tuesday morning flight from Atlanta to Detroit when the assault took place.
Jackson was sitting in the middle seat next to a friend in the window seat and the unknown male in the aisle seat.
She went to sleep during the flight, leaning on her friend with her back to her alleged attacker.
Tia Jackson, 22, has broken her silence after she was allegedly assaulted on board a Spirit Airlines flight when she fell asleep and woke up to find a fellow passenger sticking his hand down her pants
Jackson, a student from Detroit, Michigan, said she was sleeping on the Tuesday morning flight from Atlanta to Detroit when the assault took place
Shortly before the flight landed, Jackson said she felt the man touch her but initially dismissed it as an accident.
‘I thought, maybe he just bumped me,’ she said.
Jackson claims she then felt the man stick his hand down the back of her pants.
‘He slid his hands in my pants and then he touched my thigh and then part of my butt,’ Jackson told People, adding that the man was ‘pleasuring himself’.
The man had draped his coat across his lap to hide what he was doing, she said.
She immediately pushed the call button and told the assailant: ‘Hey – you are going to stop touching me! Get off of me!’
The victim’s airline ticket above. Just before the flight landed, Jackson said she felt the man touch her but initially dismissed it as an accident. Then she felt the man stick his hand down the back of her pants, she said
The woman said she reported the incident to a Spirit Airlines crew who refused to move the attacker and told her, ‘If he keeps touching you, you should move’
However, when Jackson reported the incident to a flight attendant, the Spirit Airlines crew refused to move the attacker, she said.
Instead, the attendant allegedly told the victim, ‘If he keeps touching you, you should move’.
‘He touched my bare ass! He needs to be moved!’ Jackson said she told the airline crew.
Jackson said she refused to move because she did not feel comfortable leaving her friend with the man.
The plane landed soon after at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport where Jackson reported the incident to the airline again – this time to the pilot who told her to talk to the gate agent.
Her alleged attacker walked off the flight ‘scot-free’ she said after the Spirit Airlines crew failed to call police.
The victim then filed a report with police at the airport.
One passenger took a photo of the alleged attacker (above) as he left the plane. Jackson said she is worried her attacker could prey on other victims.
Jackson took to social media (above) to tell others about her alleged assault and vent fury at the airline’s apparent inaction
In screen grabs obtained by People, an account believed to belong to Spirit Airlines is seen watching Jackson’s Instagram Stories about the incident. The same account then sent Jackson a direct message (above)
Jackson, mother of a 10-month-old boy, said she felt let down by the airline’s response and felt like she – and not her attacker – was being punished for what happened.
She said: ‘They let him and any potential witnesses leave.’
She told Fox 2 Detroit: ‘This is why people like him get away with doing what they’re doing’.
Jackson took to social media to tell others about her alleged assault and vent fury at the airline’s apparent inaction.
‘This is really sad because after being a victim of sexual assault and to be sexually assaulted while flying with Spirit Airlines — this is sad nobody did anything! Nobody called the police nothing!!’ Jackson wrote on Instagram.
In screengrabs obtained by People, an account believed to belong to Spirit Airlines is seen watching Jackson’s Instagram Stories about the incident.
The same account then sent Jackson a direct message saying, ‘We appreciate you sharing this with us. Please provide your full name as it appears on the reservation, your 6-digit confirmation code, and the best email to reach you.’
The plane landed at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (pictured) soon after the incident where Jackson reported it to airport police
Spirit Airlines has responded by releasing a statement saying the flight crew wanted to move the alleged victim and not the attacker so that the man would then not be sat directly next to any passengers.
‘We take this claim seriously and are in direct contact with the guest. We thank our crew for their quick and professional assistance to address the situation,’ the airline said.
‘Our flight attendants on board that flight learned of the alleged incident 18 minutes prior to landing when the guest pressed the call button and received immediate attention. Once she told the flight attendant who came to her seat, the flight attendant directed her to a different seat. The cabin crew wanted to move her, as opposed to him, because the move would have left him with an empty seat on one side and an aisle on the other.’
The statement added: ‘Law enforcement began its investigation immediately after the flight arrived. We are supporting law enforcement as they investigate. Questions about that investigation should be directed to them.’
Jackson said she is worried her attacker could prey on other victims.
‘He needs to be held responsible. He is a predator. He displays predatory behavior. Who knows who else he has done this to,’ she said.
‘I don’t want anyone else to ever have to fall victim to him.’
It isn’t yet known whether the man was taken into custody immediately after the flight.
Wayne County Airport Authority said the police report has not been finalized and the FBI is handling the investigation.
FBI spokeswoman Mara Schneider said the allegations were reported Tuesday to airport police and then to the federal agency.
She said Wednesday that she cannot comment further ‘because the investigation is ongoing’.