United Airlines Passenger Accused Of Raping Woman While Others Were Asleep

A man has been accused of raping a fellow passenger on a United Airlines flight from New Jersey. He was arrested after the flight landed at an airport in London.

The alleged incident happened on an inbound trans-Atlantic flight that took off from Newark and landed in London's Heathrow Airport on Jan. 31. Cops waited at the airport and took the accused into custody after the plane landed, NBC News reported.

"At 06.39hrs on Monday, 31 January police at Heathrow Airport were alerted to an incident on an inbound flight," a police spokesperson told GB News. "Officers met the aircraft on arrival and arrested a 40-year-old man on suspicion of rape. He has been released under investigation."

The spokesperson also said the complainant is "being supported by specialist officers and inquiries are ongoing." The identities of the complainant and the suspect were not revealed.

The suspect and the woman were traveling in the aircraft's business cabin and they were sitting in separate rows, 7News reported. Other passengers on the flight were reportedly sleeping when the man allegedly raped the woman. The complainant then spoke to the cabin crew about the incident. They immediately alerted law enforcement officials at Heathrow Airport.

The suspect was taken to the Heathrow police station following his arrest. Investigators took his mugshot, fingerprints and saliva samples before releasing him.

"Our crew called ahead and notified the local authorities as soon as they became aware of these allegations," a spokesperson for United Airlines said in a statement to CNN. "We will cooperate with law enforcement on any investigation."

In an unrelated incident, reported in 2017, a teenage girl was allegedly groped during a United Airlines flight from Seattle to Newark. The then-16-year-old girl was traveling to New Jersey after winning admission to a young women's leadership academy in Princeton. She said the man, identified as Vijakumar Krishnappa, began inappropriately touching her mid-air while she was asleep on the overnight flight. The accused, who was a doctor visiting the U.S. on a fellowship, was detained and released on bail.