Speculation continues over what really happened onboard Air France 228, from Paris to Buenos Aires, on October 29th. Live and Let’s Fly will never be a willing purveyor of “fake news” so let’s dig a bit deeper.
A passenger claims that Cedric Carayón, the man sitting next to her, unzipped his pants and started to pleasure himself with a pillow covering him. She complained to the crew, who at first denied her request for an upgrade to business class or even to move to another seat because every seat on the flight was full and because they witnessed nothing and the passenger denied the incident.
The woman refused to sit down and was eventually re-accomodated in a jump-seat reserved for crew members during takeoff and landing. Furthermore, she was given a tablet from the purser in which to immediately fill out a complaint form. When it came time to land, the crew asked her to return to her seat. She refused to move, but eventually did after she was threatened with arrest for failing to comply with crew member instructions.
Another twist. Apparently, the purser on the flight never reported the incident to the captain. Upon landing, the woman called her father (Ricardo Klass, a big-shot judge who dabbles in aviation law) and soon filed a complaint. Representing her daughter, Klass aggressively sought justice for his daughter and the Air France crew members were detained.
Detention in Buenos Aires
The purser, who failed to report the incident, alleges that he was held for 12 hours in a closet-size room without food and water and separated from his other Air France colleagues. Meanwhile, Argentinian authorities claim the prolonged detention was due to the requirement to procure translators who could effectively communicate in both French and Spanish.
After a second day of interrogation, all crew members were released. No charges were filed.
No charges have been filed against Carayón either. He denies masturbating onboard and also decries being undressed twice by Argentinian authorities while under detention. Carayón, a 37-year-old French national, was traveling to Argentina to take place in a model airplane competition, which he still participated in. He is scheduled to travel back to Paris on 11/25. It is now up to a local magistrate whether to prosecute him or not…he could conceivably still be detained, though there is no evidence or witnesses to bolster the story of either side. There would be no jail time, only a fine of up $12,000.
My Commentary
I don’t know what happened exactly. But I hold a much more skeptical opinion of the situation than Ben from No Mas Coach, who lacerates those for focusing on the upgrade request to business class.
First, I believe the passenger SHOULD have been threatened with arrest for defying the reasonable safety instructions of crew members. Jumpseats are for FAs upon landing, not passengers. A more diplomatic solution would have been to switch seats, placing another passenger, maybe a big burly man, in her original seat. But she could not remain in the jumpseat or stand for landing…she had to sit down.
Second, no charges were filed. Nothing against any of the crewmembers and nothing against Carayón, at least not yet. That’s telling to me. There were no witnesses to what happened onboard and without any sort of proof (I wonder if the Argentinian police demanded Carayón’s underwear for further study when they twice undressed him?) it would be unjust to charge him.
The Culpability of the Air France Crew
Third, I do feel bad for the Air France crew. I believe 12 hours of sitting in a police station was disproportionate to the crime. Even if Carayón admitted guilt, his punishment would be a $12,000 fine. The Air France crew was essentially jailed for a full day, arguably a far worse punishment. If Argentina does not have the resources to provide French translation, they could have summoned the crew once such resources were available. It’s not like the crew could have left the country without the explicit permission of authorities.
Should the purser be reprimanded for not reporting the crime to the Captain? Sure. But it appears he helped the accuser immediately fill out a customer service form. What more can you do when you se no evidence of wrongdoing and have what is essentially a he-said, she-said?
Fourth, I don’t mean to cast doubt upon the accuser. It may well have been exactly as she stated. And if that is the case, I can only imagine how angry I would be if someone did the same thing to my wife. But another narrative can be drawn. What if the woman wanted an upgrade and didn’t get one on a full flight? What if she made up a story to try to get one (a great upgrade tip)? When even that didn’t work, she had to stick with her story and enlisted the aid of her father, not just a well-connected judge, but a lawyer who has advised on airline cases before? This could all be a grand conspiracy.
Now I tend to think the woman was not lying, but we may never know unless Carayón confesses.
CONCLUSION
There’s a great deal of complexity to the case, and I want to get to the bottom of it. At this point, it is unclear to me who or what to believe, except that the detention of the Air France crew members was disproportionate to the offense alleged. I hope for justice in this case and will report back any updates.
Image: Aero Icarus / FLICKR
“She refused to move, but eventually did after she was threatened with arrest for failing to comply with crew member instructions.” She was landing in her home country and her father as you said is a big shot-judge there so do you think she would even consider that she would be arrested? NO way in hell in a corrupted country like Argentina. They are well known for being the most arrogant and egocentric people you can find anywhere in the world so I can only believe she was trying to find a way to sneak in business class.
*Grabs popcorn and awaits comments*
As you point out difficult to make a criminal case based on those facts. His underwear contents might have been interesting, but seizing and analyzing the pillow might have provided better evidence to support her claim.
My sources in the industry say these type of incidents are a daily occurrence within their systems.
Screw this, I believe her. I also think the No Mas Coach take is the correct one. I do think the treatment of the crew was problematic, but I also think their behavior in response to her claim was problematic. Any flight, even an intercontinental one is not enough time to adjudicate a claim of sexual harassment, but that doesn’t mean that the alleged victim shouldn’t be taken seriously or somehow otherwise accommodated. I don’t care whether she was trying to upgrade to business class, or if the flight was full, if a passenger on your flight makes a claim of sexual harassment, you have to take it seriously. At worst the accused has a crappy flight and gets exonerated upon landing (so we are talking, at most, 18 hours of confinement if the alleged actions began on an ULH flight), at best you prevent someone from being the victim of sexual misconduct. I don’t condone what happened to the crew upon arrival in EZE thanks to the alleged victim’s politically connected father, but I also don’t really feel that bad for them based on their problematic behavior on the flight in response to an alleged victim of sexual assault.
Taking sides in a situation you have no info over is chargeable through wrongful accusations.
I’ll take my chances. Rather than taking sides, I’m merely playing hypotheticals.
Ah this old canard, as though being accused of sexual assault is somehow worse than being a victim of sexual assault. Do you realize how many millions of more lives (mostly women, but certainly some men) have been ruined than so called “victims” of sexual assault accusations, because we have a system that punishes and questions victims of sexual assault and largely serves to protect assaulters/harassers? A system where a woman who claims that the person next to her on a 12 hour flight has molested her is expected to prove her claim under the standards applied to criminal trials just to get a new seat or have him moved away from her or where people are looking for any reason to dismiss her claims and/or use this to cast doubt on other victims/potential victims. I’m not saying the accused should be locked up without a criminal trial (or even that he should be subjected to one), but certainly there has to be a better way to handle the situation.
“and I want to get to the bottom of it”. And just how do you plan to do that? Good luck with it.
Keep reading the Argentinian press.
An admittedly xenophobic and prejudiced joke says that the best business deal in the world is buying an Argentine for his real worth and selling him for what he thinks he’s worth. All Argentines I personally know are the exact opposite and are all lovely people without exception, but there is a grain of truth in that the Argentine ÉLITE can be really nasty, with a sense of entitlement and privilege that’s hard to rival. The heavy-handed and illegal (even under Argentine law) reaction on the crew using the woman’s family and connections, and her insistence to be upgraded to business class make me suspect her and not blindly believe her allegations.
That said, sexual harassment is a very serious issue, all claims should be investigated, blaming the victim is by itself another crime, and it’s great that women are finally standing up against this ages-old practice. However, it is also true that it’s a subject that has been too much on the news, and that has led in many instances to cutting corners in due process (even in otherwise democratic countries) and to false accusations ruining lives. One should be very cautious and I applaud Matthew’s approach.
Her father was actually an attorney to a previous president. He’s been under investigation for corrupt practices. Her mother is a magistrate judge who has also been under investigation for complaints.
Ingrid has a personality disorder (histrionic) and can bring her lies very far to try and get attention and the outcome she desires. It’s very unfortunate that she’s involved these people in her lowly attention seeking ways (I’ve known her since grade school.)
She should be punished gravely for the way the crew and the poor gentleman next to her was treated.
Diego, yes, you’re exactly right on.
I actually dated her for a short period.
If you want a correct depiction of her watch the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp trial. It’s spot on. She would spin everything talk extremely fast and try and confuse. You would never get a straight answer from her.
She’ ruined the guys life and many others in her path of destruction.
She’s actually a MRI technician and she lied about her mental exams to place her job. She’s a very cunning person. I hope this warns anyone that comes across this article. RUN!!!