Flight Attendant Allegedly Assaults Underage Passenger

This case involves a child who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a flight attendant while on a flight from Santa Fe to Denver. The child, a 12-year-old girl from Dallas, went to the bathroom approximately 30 minutes into the flight. As the child exited the bathroom, the flight attendant, a 44-year-old man who had been employed by the airline for 13 years, allegedly offered the girl snacks from the flight attendant stock. She followed him to an area of the plane behind a curtain where he proceeded to grope her. When the child came forward with the allegations, several other crew members vouched that the flight attendant in question had been attending to passengers in a different area of the cabin at the time in question.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. Please describe your familiarity with airline cabin safety regulations.

Expert Witness Response E-129132

I have been a commercial airline pilot for a prominent airline for over 22 years, and I have been active in the industry for 27+ years. I can approach best practices concerning cabin safety from many different perspectives. The grey, and somewhat confusing, Part 121, FAA cabin regulations, the common industry standards, my companies approach, the flight attendant's perspective toward enforcement, or the general reality of what actually happens during the different stages of a commercial flight. The data can even be segmented into a business or vacation flight, early morning or redeye, on-time or significantly delayed. All of these factors can cause different but predictable passenger reactions to what would be normally considered a best practice for cabin safety.