More Trouble For United: N.J. Woman Says Drunk Man Groped Her On Flight

A New Jersey woman says she was groped on a United Airlines flight last month — even as attendants kept giving the alleged groper whiskeys while he was engaging in bad behavior, according to reports.

Jennifer Rafieyan of Warren says she and her 12-year-old daughter were awaiting takeoff on a United Airlines flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Phoenix when they watched a flight attendant seat a visibly drunk man in the empty aisle seat next to them, according to the Huffington Post.

“[One attendant] made some comment to me like, ‘This is going to be an interesting flight,’ and looked at him,” Rafieyan, 47, told the publication. “And then the other flight attendant came up and said, ‘Let me know if you need anything. I mean it’― and she looked at him.”

The 64-year-old then rubbed her legs, grabbed her knee, kissed her hands, put his head on her shoulder and snatched her pen and notepad to add “PASIONAT NITE XX” to the to-do list she was writing as she sat on the plane, according to the report. Her daughter was right next to her.

Efforts to obtain comment from the Federal Aviation Administration were not immediately successful. United representatives said in an email that the airline apologized to Rafieyan and sent her four $100 travel vouchers, though the company did not acknowledge her accusations or the alleged groping.

The alleged incident could be another black eye for United since a video of a passenger being forcibly removed from an overbooked flight surfaced this week. United is Newark Liberty International Airport's largest airline.

Gov. Chris Christie has written a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, asking her to immediately suspend the federal regulation permitting airlines to overbook flights and to remove passengers as a result.

Read more: Chris Christie Calls Video Of Bloody United Passenger 'Abusive,' Demands Changes

Rafieyan, a married mother of three, said flight attendants told her they were sorry for the man's behavior but that nothing could be done, according to nj.com. The man was allowed to continue ordering drinks and downed three more whiskeys and a small bottle of wine, the report said.

He didn't touch Rafieyan again after she complained, but the man got belligerent during the rest of the flight and accused multiple people of stealing his passport, according to nj.com. He also refused to sit down until a flight attendant said the plane would be diverted and forced to make an emergency landing.

The Federal Aviation Administration doesn't allow airlines to board passengers who are visibly intoxicated, the reports said, and United has a similar policy that it can deny entry to a flight to someone who is drunk.

Patch file photo