Woman Says She Was Sexually Assaulted by Another Passenger on American Airlines Flight

A woman is coming forward after she says she was groped on an American Airlines flight.

"It was horrifying," book editor Gretchen Stelter tells Inside Edition.

Stelter says she was flying home to Chicago after vacationing in Mexico . She was in a window seat in the business section.

She says the passenger sitting next to her started making a stream of vulgar comments.

"The flight attendants had to come over, asked if everything was okay, I said, 'No,'" Stelter says.

Another passenger saw what was going on and offered to switch seats. Stelter says she thought that would be a good idea, but as she tried to climb over the passenger, who was drunk, and squeeze out of her row, the situation escalated.

"I did climb over him and he did grope me," Stelter says. "He both-handed went for my butt."

In a lawsuit, Stelter claims the flight attendants "took no action" to protect her.

The FBI says sexual assault aboard planes is "a serious federal crime that is on the rise."

Last year, the bureau investigated 96 allegations of in-flight sexual assault.

Inside Edition reached out to American Airlines for comment but did not hear back.

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