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| The incident happened while the plane was in mid-air |
By Vir B. Lumicao
An elderly Canadian resident on his way to Manila
for a vacation got an unexpected three-week stopover in Hong
Kong – but in jail – for indecently assaulting a Cathay Pacific flight
attendant in mid-flight.
Salvador Recongco Jr., 60, pleaded guilty and was convicted on
Sept. 5 by Tsuen Wan Magistrate Cheang Kei-hong on his own admission that he
indecently touched the flight stewardess while the plane was en route from Vancouver to Hong Kong .
Recongco was a transit passenger who was to have transferred
to a Cathay flight to Manila
on the morning of Aug. 14.
But as soon as the plane landed at Hong Kong International
Airport
A prosecution report read in court said the plane was
airborne above the Northern Pacific Ocean when
the crew served dinner.
The defendant, who was seated at the aisle, asked for red
wine to go with his dinner. He asked for more, and Cathay
was generous.
Then, when the cabin lights were turned off for passengers
to get some sleep during the 13-hour flight, a flight attendant walking down
the aisle felt somebody touch her right thigh, the court heard.
The Hong Kong flight
attendant reported the incident to the purser, who contacted airport police.
Recongco told Consulate officers who interviewed him before
the court hearing that he was taking medication for Parkinson’s disease and that
drinking red wine might have excited him.
Cheang sentenced Recongco to three-weeks in jail for the
offense. But as the balikbayan had been detained since his arrest, chances were
that he had already served this time and sent off to Manila for his interrupted journey shortly
after being sentenced.
