CHARLESTON, S.C. — A man accused of groping a woman and urinating on a seat during a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday has been identified.
Michael Allen Haag, 45, became unruly and disrupted the flight, according to an FBI affidavit.
RELATED: Criminal complaint against Michael Haag
Haag reportedly was drinking double vodka and tonics aboard Flight 864, according to a woman who was seated next to him on the flight.
The woman told investigators that Haag asked her personal questions and kept looking at her “chest and legs as she was wearing a tank top and shorts.”
Haag then began to touch a second woman, according to the affidavit.
After first touching a sleeping woman’s fingers, Haag allegedly twice touched the woman’s legs. She then yelled, “Stop touching me.”
The woman summoned a flight attendant, who moved Haag to the back of the plane.
While there, a third female passenger told the FBI that Haag removed his seat belt “and started urinating on the seat in front of him.”
She called out for flight attendants, who then moved Haag to the front of the plane.
Haag was arrested by the Charleston Aviation Authority Police Department after the plane landed in South Carolina.
He is accused of interfering with flight crew members and obscene or indecent exposure of genitals.
He was released from custody on a $25,000 bond, which restricts his travel to South Carolina and Colorado, and bars ‘excessive” alcohol use.
International President of the Association of Flight Attendants spokeswoman Sara Nelson said flight attendants are dealing with unruly passengers more often as planes get packed with more passengers.
“The issue of unruly passengers can escalate very quickly,” Nelson said.
She said airlines should increase the number of flight attendants on flights and at gates.
If they did, Nelson said, airline employees could identify drunk passengers more often and prevent them from getting on planes.
Meanwhile, the number of unruly passengers getting arrested is decreasing.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, 310 unruly passengers were arrested in 2004. Last year, that number had decreased to 87.
Nelson said it’s because flight attendants are getting involved and de-escalating tense situations before they get out of control.
“There needs to be a real look at the reality of what flight attendants are handling on planes and what aircraft configurations are leading to greater conflict,” Nelson said.