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In this episode, retired agent David Gates reviews two investigations involving sexual assaults committed on board airplanes. He also provides tips to identify and raise awareness of this safety issue on flights.
David spent most of his Bureau career assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). When he retired, he was one of the FBI’s experts in crimes on board aircraft.
Special Agent (Retired)
David Gates
4/2003 – 8/2024
David Gates served in the FBI for 21 years.
Before joining the FBI, he spent 7 years with the United States Customs Service at LAX. Within a year of graduating from the FBI Academy, he was transferred to the FBI’s office at LAX, which at the time had 3 agents. He spent 20 years at LAX with the FBI. Over the years, the squad grew to its current composition of a full task force with a dozen agents and task force officers. In 2017, David was picked as the first-ever Supervisory Special Agent for the newly formed LAX squad.
Over 20 years, SSA Gates worked on hundreds of investigations involving crimes on board aircraft and federal crimes at airports.
He spoke at over 100 conferences as a specialist in aviation crimes, including national JTTF conferences, international aviation security symposiums, and law enforcement events. He received a dozen US Attorney’s Office awards for outstanding investigations, multiple national counterintelligence awards for outstanding investigations, two FBI Medals of Excellence, and over twenty FBI citations for outstanding achievement.
Retired agent David Gates’ Airplane Safety Tips
1. Trust your gut: Offenders will often test their victims, sometimes pretending to brush against them to see how they react or if they wake up. Ask to be moved to another seat if the person refuses to stop after you make them aware.
2. Don’t knock yourself out: Recognize that mixing alcohol with sleeping pills or other medication on an overnight flight increases your risk.
3. Choose an aisle seat: If you are arranging for a child to fly unaccompanied, try to reserve an aisle seat so flight attendants can keep a closer watch on them.
4. Create a barrier: If your seatmate is a stranger, no matter how polite he or she may seem, keep the armrest between you down.
5. Report it: If an incident happens, report it immediately to the flight crew and ask that they record the attacker’s identity and report the incident.
The following are links to articles and court documents from the cases reviewed and links to information identifying and raising awareness of the issue of sexual assault on flights:
USA v. Marcelo Dejesumaria (Docket number 15-50382)
USA v. Juan Pablo Price (Docket number 15-50556)
National In-Flight Sexual Misconduct Task Force Report – 3/16/2020
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin – 9/7/2022: Violation at 30,000 Feet: In-Flight Sexual Assaults
Listen to FBI Retired Case File Review episode 248: Jennifer Coffindaffer – 32 Razor Blades on an Airplane to learn more about the FBI’s jurisdiction on board aircraft.
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