Woman Says She Was Sexually Assaulted On Spirit Airlines Flight By A Man Who Was ‘Pleasuring Himself’!

An experience flying with Spirit Airlines was soul-crushing for one woman who says she was sexually assaulted while sleeping on a flight.

Tia Jackson (above), a student at Eastern Michigan University and mother to a 10-month-old baby boy, opened up to People about the harrowing ordeal that took place early Tuesday morning when she was on a 7 a.m. flight to Detroit from Atlanta, Georgia.

Related: Walmart Deletes Insensitive Paul Walker Tweet Amid Outrage

The 22-year-old woman claimed the plane was descending when she was going in and out of sleep — and felt the hand of the man sitting beside her touching her thigh. She recalled:

“I could feel him being real jittery. He kept moving. I thought he was cold. He took off his coat, sat it across his lap — and I’m thinking he was cold, so I’m not paying attention… Next thing you know, I felt his hand on my thigh.” 

Jackson initially brushed it off, thinking that the man was perhaps trying to get comfortable in his seat and had touched her by accident. So, she leaned in closer to her friend — who was sitting on the other side of her on the plane — in order to give the man more room.

That’s when things got out of hand. Jackson claimed:

“When he noticed I moved away, he slid his hands in my pants and then he touched my thigh and then part of my butt.” 

Um… WTF?!!

Jackson claimed the man was “pleasuring himself” underneath his coat — but when she reacted, he “snatch[ed] his hand back.” She explained:

“He tried to play it off.”

But Jackson had enough: she immediately rang for a flight attendant in hopes of having the man removed from her row. 

Unfortunately, the airline employee wasn’t very sympathetic to her situation. Jackson claims the attendant told her, “If he keeps touching you, you should move.” She explained:

“I’m like, ‘That’s crazy.’ They basically told me to sit back down and I had to make a scene and I had to refuse sitting down because the pilot wouldn’t move until I sat down. That’s when they removed him from my row.”

She went on to claim that the flight staff asked the man if he hand touched her “and he said ‘No,’” adding:

“But he was shushing me.”

Frustratingly enough, Jackson said the man walked off the flight “scot-free” once the plane landed. She noted:

“He got away with touching me with no repercussions.”

The flight attendants apparently refused to call the police on her behalf. So, with no choice but to take matters into her own hands, Jackson reported the incident to police at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. She said:

“Spirit was acting like they weren’t going to do anything about it. Even the pilot told me to go into the airport towards the front desk to ask for police assistance.”

Jackson says she filled out an incident report with police after walking to the Spirit Airlines ticket counter. However, she felt the need to share the incident on social media after not getting a response out of the airline at the time of the alleged assault.

She wrote on Instagram:

“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!!”

Spirit, for its part, appears to be investigating. A company account sent Jackson a direct message, writing:

“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.”

Meanwhile, the airline addressed the incident in a statement to People, saying:

“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. 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 crew wanted to keep the male guest isolated in that row. The female guest was asked to move to another open seat to quickly separate the parties. By the time the guest declined to move, landing was imminent and everyone had to be seated as required by federal regulation. Law enforcement began its investigation immediately after the flight arrived. We are supporting law enforcement as they investigate. It was a Spirit team member who reported this to local law enforcement. The FBI is currently investigating.”

What do U think about all this, Perezcious readers?

[Image via FOX 2]

The post Woman Says She Was Sexually Assaulted On Spirit Airlines Flight By A Man Who Was ‘Pleasuring Himself’! appeared first on Perez Hilton.