He shouldn’t have offered oral sex on a Swiss plane

In 2023, a passenger found an attractive young man on a Swiss plane and offered to perform oral sex on him. He refused, and the situation escalated. The Federal Criminal Court looked into the case.

Kari Kälin / ch media

It’s cramped on the plane, and we can’t always choose our seat mates. Most of the time, this isn’t a problem. But it was different on a Swiss plane which landed in Zurich on April 25, 2023. So much so that the Zurich cantonal police had to intervene.

This is all due to an older man who found his younger seatmate attractive. They talk about drugs, nightlife and finally sex. The older man reveals he is gay. There he seeks physical contact, first with the legs, then he caresses his neighbor’s arm and asks if he can “suck” it and lick his feet. The youngest is heterosexual and defends himself: “Stop!” But the stalker is not impressed:

The young man has had enough. He speaks to the cabin crew and gets a new seat. The older man follows him and grabs his arm. After an altercation, he falls to the ground. He then grabbed a PET water bottle, stood up and used it to hit the young man in the face. The crew members write a report for the “Unruly Passenger”. This is what unruly passengers are called in aviation jargon.

As in this recent case ????

The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office is responsible for punishable behavior on airplanes. By criminal order, he sentenced the man on October 24 to a fine of 900 francs for sexual harassment repeated and assault, which he did not accept. Six months later, the criminal chamber of the Federal Criminal Court confirmed the sanction. She considered that the young man’s statements were consistent and those of the convicted person were contradictory.

An example: immediately after landing, the accused denied having told his seatmate that he was homosexual. During his interrogation before the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, he admitted to having shared this information.

After the criminal order, the attacker also challenged the judgment of the Federal Criminal Court. Interestingly, his appeal contains his first confession. But at the same time, he puts his act into perspective: he would not have harmed anyone, shows a little lucidity, but has no remorse. He finds that the fine is too high and that the facts were not presented correctly.

Alcohol is often the cause

In its judgment of October 16, the Appeals Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court upheld the lower court’s decision; she established in a non-arbitrary manner the guilt of the aggressor. In addition to the fine, the man must pay procedural costs of 3,177 francs. This is no small matter for him; he has a debt of nearly 29,000 francs. He explained his inappropriate behavior by a “blackout”; he was drunk during the flight.

Alcohol is often involved when cabin crew have to report incidents like this. Other reasons for reporting are, for example, smoking in the toilets or failure to wear a seat belt, as a spokesperson for the Federal Office of Civil Aviation explains. Topping the list are cases of “failure to follow cabin crew instructions” and verbal abuse. Another notable fact: flight attendants increasingly have to call the police due to aggressive passengersin Switzerland and abroad.

Airlines must report incidents involving passengers who do not respect the rules of behavior on board to the Confederation. This happened 1,347 times in 2023 – including fifteen cases of sexual harassment. Until November 6 of this year, Swiss airlines have already recorded more incidents (1458) with recalcitrant passengers than in the whole of last year. Eight times it involved sexual harassment. Indecent behavior on board usually leads to criminal proceedings and heavy fines.

Translated and adapted from German by Léa Krejci