Woman suing airline over flight incident

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 15 (UPI) -- A 21-year-old Texas woman is suing American Airlines for allegedly not protecting her from a man who masturbated near her on a recent flight.

The woman, whose identity has not been released to the public, alleges airline employees did not act appropriately when a man sat next to her while she slept on a March 19 flight and began to masturbate, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram said Saturday.

The woman's $200,000 lawsuit alleges that when she awoke on the flight to Los Angeles, she found the man masturbating and "a substantial amount of an extremely sticky substance in her hair."

The woman reportedly was calmed by another passenger after making the discovery, while the man was taken into custody by police once the plane landed.

The suit alleges American Airlines employees informed police they had seen the man take the seat next to the woman, but did nothing to move him back to his assigned seat.

The Star-Telegram reported a spokesman for the airline said crew members took appropriate action.