Renee Solofra felt trapped in the middle seat on a flight from Chicago to Florida in September 2023. She said the man sitting next to her in the aisle seat was visibly intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and continued to drink before sexually assaulting her.

"I already had the back of my neck grabbed; I had my hand grabbed; I'd had my cellphone taken out of my hand and had to take it back from the individual," she said. "We were close to landing and at that point in time, I had crossed my arms on my lap, closed my eyes and was just thinking to myself, 'we're finally going to land.' And that's when he grabbed my breast."

Solofra recalled breaking down in tears when she was finally able to get off the plane and report the assault to the gate agent. She pressed charges against her aggressor, Daniel McAdams, who pleaded guilty to battery.

"It affected my job, it affected my life. I was scared to travel," Solofra told CBS News. "I had to try to have my voice heard, and the amounts of counseling and therapy that I've gone through — and I've never gone through therapy before in my life. It turned my world upside down."

A CBS News investigation found the FBI investigated more than 170 similar cases ofpassengersassaultingother passengerson flights in 2024. That's up from about 130 the year before. It's a small fraction of the millions of air travelers each year, but CBS News found that number is up sharply. There's fear the cases are widely underreported, and the airline industry and authorities aren't aggressively tracking in-air assaults.

The FBI didn't have some of these figures readily available until CBS News requested them. Since some cases are handled by local airport police, who don't publicly report numbers, it's difficult to know just how many others experienced what Solofra suffered.

CBS News' examination found many of the incidents happen on long distance or international flights, often at night and often when the attacker has consumed alcohol.

There are conditions facing air travelers today that may increase vulnerability, according to Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants.

In the past, she said, "There were a lot of open seats; seats also were not as close together and you had a line of sight and flight attendants could see. There were more of us [flight attendants] on planes, too. We could walk through and keep an eye on the cabin."

"Today, actually, ironically, with more eyes literally in the cabin, but closer together and no line of sight between the rows, it's difficult for witnesses to see this," she said.

Source: Drudge Report