FBI warns of expected summer spike in sexual assault on planes

‘Anyone who believes they have been sexually assaulted is encouraged to alert a member of the flight crew’

A passenger aboard an aircraft (Associated Press)

The FBI is warning of a spike in sexual assault on flights as the summer holiday season begins.

The alert was issued as passenger numbers return to pre-pandemic levels according to screening figures from the TSA, with 2.37 million travellers catching flights on Thursday.

Douglas Korneski, special agent in charge of the FBI Memphis Field Office, said passengers should take precautions when using alcohol and prescription drugs, and not hesitate to report suspicious behaviour.

“As summer is upon us and more people are flying, the FBI expects to see an increase in reported sexual assaults,” Mr Korneski said in a statement.

“Sexual assault aboard aircraft is a federal felony. Anyone who believes they have been sexually assaulted is encouraged to alert a member of the flight crew.”

The FBI issued a list of recommendations passengers are encouraged to take to protect themselves.

These include reserving an aisle seat for unaccompanied minors, keeping the armrest down, and being aware of strangers who pretend to brush up against the person in the seat next to them.

The FBI said offenders will take advantage of the fact that some victims might not report an incident “because they are embarrassed, don’t want to cause a scene, or may try to convince themselves the assault was accidental”.

It said prompt reporting to law enforcement was crucial, as crime aboard an aircraft becomes more difficult to investigate days, or even hours, after the fact.

FBI figures showed the number of reported mid-air sexual assaults nearly doubled between 2017 and 2019.

The Department of Transportation formed a National In-Flight Sexual Misconduct Task Force in 2018 to investigate the rise of assault aboard domestic flights.

It issued a range of recommendations in a 2020 report including giving airline staff better training to identify alleged offenders, trauma training for caring for victims, and timely reporting of any allegations of assault to the FBI.