Couple banned from FlySafair after getting intimate on Durban flight in full view of passengers
- A man was forced to sit next to a couple performing sexual acts during a flight.
- He complained to the airline but got no response until the media got involved.
- The couple have now been banned from the airline.
A Durban businessman drew the short straw when the couple he was sitting next to on a local flight conducted lewd acts openly.
The man, who asked not to be named, feels FlySafair did not take his complaint seriously enough.
On Monday, he was on a 16:25 flight from Johannesburg to Durban. He was in the aisle seat in row 16 when a woman passenger sitting next to him reached over to touch her partner’s crotch.
“In short, a [woman] sitting next to me was giving [the] male passenger a handjob whilst on the runway waiting to take off. I could not leave my seat for safety reasons. I had to hear them kiss and laugh for about five minutes, while aware of what was going on. This continued while the plane took off… I felt sick.”
The man recorded the incident, which News24 has seen, to show the crew.
“A soon as we could leave the seat, I jumped out of mine and ran towards the back to make the air hostesses aware and show them the videos I had taken to prove it was really taking place.”
The man followed up with an emailed complaint to FlySafair.
“I’m horrified how such an event could have little effect on the involved passengers. Surely, there are consequences for the actions of people in South Africa’s skies?” he wrote.
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He went through the steps he took to try to get recourse:
- The first person I spoke to ... was an off-duty pilot who saw the video, he laughed and said he was off duty [and I should] speak to the air hostess.
- Then I spoke to an air hostess who saw the video and called the senior flight crew member.
- I spoke to [a flight attendant] who apologised immediately.
- I asked for a new seat which they placed me in straight away.
- They said they had spoken to the two passengers involved, and had also mentioned it to the pilot.
“That’s all that happened to the couple involved,” he wrote.
“I’m shocked and now angry that nothing further took place.
“I was expecting that they [would keep] the passengers on the plane [after landing] or call the SAPS to the plane when [the passengers disembarked], but nothing happened. They were free to go like any other passenger. I’m now [psychologically] scarred due to this incident.”
The man added that there was a large contingent of school children on the plane and he was mostly concerned of the consequences if a child had been in his seat.
Advocate Chris Christodoulou, head of the aviation and commercial department at legal firm Christodoulou & Mavrikis Inc, told News24 that the couple had committed a serious offence.
He explained that the incident falls under Chapter 11 of the Civil Aviation Act, 2009: Nuisance, disorderly or indecent act on board any aircraft, which makes it a crime to:
- Commit any nuisance or disorderly or indecent act,
- Be in a state of intoxication, or
- Behave in a violent manner towards any person including a crew member which is likely to endanger the safety or security of the aircraft or of any person on board such aircraft.
The act further states that a person guilty of an offence and “on conviction is liable to a fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both”.
Christodoulou said the pilot can arrange for an arrest upon landing or could land at the closest airport and have the couple arrested and, in that case, the offending passengers might be liable for the costs of the stop.
“It is a serious offence and there could be a fight on board if someone were to confront the couple, this can endanger other passengers.”
FlySafair spokesperson Kirby Gordon spoke to News24 and then called the passenger who had complained, and then provided a follow-up response to the reporter.
He said the couple has been banned from their airline.
He agreed with Christodoulou and said the captain could “certainly take the call to divert or have SAPS at arrival if they believe that safety is in question, and they will often lay charges, but the choice and impact of doing so is very much something that’s up to them as it will be here for [the businessman].”
He said, according to the act, the man needed to lay a criminal charge, “but I am ready and prepared to support his case with all the info needed as soon as the authorities request it from me”.
Gordon said sexual activity on flights was unusual and “people are generally very decent on flights”.
The Durban businessman said he felt it wasn’t his responsibility to lay the charge but said he would do so if the airline committed to following up.
“I’m supposed to go to the police station and open a case against people with no names and no ID numbers. [The airline] has a ‘no care’ attitude. I feel they could take a bit more responsibility. It’s just gross [the lewd act].
“If I was on a flight and smoked, I would be arrested, and the plane would be grounded – this was way worse [than smoking]."
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