Singapore Airlines accused of cover-up of in-flight violence

An illustration showing a woman being assulted by a drunken Singaporean man on a Singapore Airlines flight. / Captured from YTN

By Lee Kyung-min

Singapore Airlines is drawing fire over allegations that it attempted to cover up an in-flight assault committed by a drunken Singaporean man against a Korean woman and one of its flight attendants, sources said Wednesday.

It is alleged that the carrier only called an emergency crew to send the drunken assailant to a nearby hospital, saying it was the act of a mentally disturbed man.

When contacted by The Korea Times, the Singapore Airlines official admitted that it failed to report the case immediately to the police.

According to YTN, a local cable network, on July 23 on a flight bound for Incheon from San Francisco in the U.S., the drunken Singapore assailant stood up in the middle of the flight and slapped a flight attendant in the face.

He then barged into the flight galley and grabbed a bottle of champagne and poured it on the passenger in front of him, a Korean woman whose identity was withheld. He then allegedly kicked her multiple times.

Later, a number of flight attendants subdued him and no additional violence occurred, according to the report.

The woman's brother said no flight attendants attempted to stop the man when he began assaulting his sister.

"It was a dangerous moment. He could have hit my sister with the bottle. He seemed capable of doing so," the brother was quoted as saying.

He said the carrier asked them both for a written statement upon arrival at Incheon International Airport, saying their testimony was needed in case of a police investigation, but airline personnel did not call officers to the scene or file a report with them.

"They did nothing to take any responsibility for the situation," the brother added.

Asked about the incident, Incheon International Airport Police (IIAP) said that the carrier informed them that the in-flight violence was caused by a mentally disturbed man, but it did not request for a police investigation.

"We heard that there was a mentally unstable man on a flight, and that he was taken to a nearby hospital," an IIAP official said.

"We were on our way to the gate where the airplane was supposed to land, but returned to our office after the carrier told us that it would take care of that matter," the official added.

The attacker was briefly questioned by police, but flew back to his country on July 25. The official said they were not able to detain him because his behavior didn't seem serious enough to issue an arrest warrant for.

Police referred his case to the prosecution with a recommendation for indictment.

Carrier officials said the police told them to call the emergency crew if the attacker seemed to be mentally disturbed.

"Our cabin crew is trained to recognize and deal with passengers who exhibit unruly behavior. We are also following up with our affected customers," Singapore Airlines said.

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