Sexual assaults on airplanes are up, and likely underreported, a CBS News investigation finds

Renee Solofra felt trapped in the middle seat on a flight from Chicago to Florida in September 2023. She said the man sitting next to her in the aisle seat was visibly intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and continued to drink before sexually assaulting her. Anna Schecter contributed to this report. In:

Renee Solofra felt trapped in the middle seat on a flight from Chicago to Florida in September 2023. She said the man sitting next to her in the aisle seat was visibly intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and continued to drink before sexually assaulting her.

"I already had the back of my neck grabbed; I had my hand grabbed; I'd had my cellphone taken out of my hand and had to take it back from the individual," she said. "We were close to landing and at that point in time, I had crossed my arms on my lap, closed my eyes and was just thinking to myself, 'we're finally going to land.' And that's when he grabbed my breast."

Solofra recalled breaking down in tears when she was finally able to get off the plane and report the assault to the gate agent. She pressed charges against her aggressor, Daniel McAdams, who pleaded guilty to battery. 

"It affected my job, it affected my life. I was scared to travel," Solofra told CBS News. "I had to try to have my voice heard, and the amounts of counseling and therapy that I've gone through — and I've never gone through therapy before in my life. It turned my world upside down."

A CBS News investigation found the FBI investigated more than 170 similar cases of passengers assaulting other passengers on flights in 2024. That's up from about 130 the year before. It's a small fraction of the millions of air travelers each year, but CBS News found that number is up sharply. There's fear the cases are widely underreported, and the airline industry and authorities aren't aggressively tracking in-air assaults.