United Airlines gives passenger $75 as ‘hush money’ after another passenger masturbated next to her throughout flight: Report

A woman aboard a United Airlines flight from Orange County, California, to Chicago, Illinois, earlier this month said a man masturbated throughout the flight and staff not only failed to report it but gave her $75 so she wouldn’t either.

Michela Dixon, 21, told BuzzFeed News that her boyfriend was sleeping in a window seat and she was sitting in the middle seat when a middle-aged man in the aisle seat began “rubbing himself” through his pants pocket, “making noises, and breathing heavily.”

Dixon alleged that, at one point, the man pulled down his pants. She said she woke up her boyfriend to make sure she wasn’t mistaken in what she was seeing. The boyfriend confirmed her suspicions and dozed off, leaving the man to allegedly continue to touch himself for the remaining 1.5 hours of the flight.

In a series of tweets, Dixon said she didn’t want to get up because she didn’t want to come into contact with him. She also claimed she didn’t alert an attendant because he would’ve heard her reporting him.

“I sat there shaking until he got up to go to the bathroom as we landed. attendants came over, moved my seat, at this point the guy came back and knew what was happening,” she tweeted.

Dixon told BuzzFeed that the flight attendant who moved her seat also claimed crew contacted law enforcement, who would meet the man at Chicago O’Hare Airport. While United Airlines security escorted the man off the plane, the outlet reported that he was ultimately released.

The airline’s spokesperson told BuzzFeed that staff elected not to contact Chicago police, a decision the airline is investigating. Officer Michael Carroll confirmed that someone, not from the airline, called 911 after the plane landed but the suspect had fled before officers arrived.

Moreover, Dixon said the airline refused to tell her what would happen to the man and gave her $75 of “hush money.”

“They were desperately trying to keep it internal,” she said. “Basically United lied about everything, let the man go after a few questions, and refused to involve law enforcement until I called the cops myself and forced them to file a report w [sic] the FBI.”

[Featured Image: Associated Press]