Norton to Introduce Bill to Require FAA to Keep Statistics on Sexual Assaults on Airplanes

WASHINGTON, DC – Following news reports last month highlighting a surge in sexual assaults on commercial airplanes en route to Washington, D.C.-area airports and that there are no formal statistics of such assaults, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s (D-DC) office did an investigation that confirmed that no statistics of such assaults are kept by any federal agency. Today, Norton, a senior member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, announced that she will introduce a bill when Congress returns from recess next week to direct the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to collect and maintain data on sexual assaults that occur on airplanes. The bill will include domestic and international flights that land in or depart from the U.S. The data would be made accessible to the public through the FAA’s website. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is an agency tasked with investigating crimes aboard commercial flights, but does not collect data of this sort.

“Without some real-time statistics and documentation, we cannot gain either the necessary information to prosecute these crimes or the insights to help eliminate them and improve complicated onboard sexual assault investigations by the FBI,” said Norton. “Airplane passengers expect that after going through extensive security that they will be safe aboard their flights, but recent surges in reports of sexual assaults occurring on planes say otherwise. Those who staff flights and who may witness these crimes should have guidance as to how to proceed. Law enforcement and the flying public deserve to have access to data on sexual assaults that occur aboard planes so that we can work towards preventing these devastating crimes.”

Published: March 20, 2014