An Air India flight attendant was assaulted in her hotel room near London, in what can only be described as a vicious attack.
In this post:
Air India crew attacked at Heathrow hotel
Earlier this week, an Air India flight attendant was reportedly attacked while sleeping in her hotel room, during a layover at London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
Specifically, the Air India crew was staying at the Radisson RED Hotel London Heathrow (I’m only sharing the name because Air India has since switched the crew hotel). According to reports, at around 1:30AM, the flight attendant was attacked by an intruder in her room.
The intruder reportedly attacked her with a clothes hangar and dragged her on the floor. The flight attendant screamed, and eventually her colleagues in nearby rooms came to her rescue, at which point the intruder fled.
The flight attendant was injured and had several bruises, so was hospitalized. She has since flown back to India as a passenger, as she was unable to work the return flight (understandably).
I don’t want to speculate, as there are several versions regarding who the intruder was, whether the assault was sexual or not, and whether the intruder was caught. Regardless of those details, this incident is absolutely horrifying.
I feel terribly for the flight attendant, because even once her physical scars from this incident are gone, I’m sure this will take a big mental toll on her. Nobody deserves to feel so violated.
Air India issued the following statement regarding the incident:
We are deeply anguished by an unlawful incident of intrusion at a hotel, operated by a major international chain that affected one of our own. At Air India, we are as concerned about this incident as all of you are.
We are providing all possible support to our colleague and the broader team, including professional counselling. Air India is also working with the local police and will pursue the matter to the fullest extent of the law.
We constantly review travel and stay arrangements, made at reputed international hotel chains, based on feedback of our employees and internal review to ensure the safety and comfort of employees. In this particular instance, we have taken immediate measures and decided to move our colleagues to another hotel.
We have reached out to the management of the current hotel to ensure the security of colleagues staying there. We have been given an assurance that there will be no compromise to safety and security till such time our colleagues are relocated to another hotel.
Our team in London is actively monitoring the safety aspects and will be available for any support during this period.
Air India accords foremost priority to the safety, security and wellbeing of all employees who travel on duty.
We request that the privacy of those involved is respected. Requesting all to refrain and use their judgement towards speculation on social media posts.
To what extent is Air India to blame?
A lot of the commentary online about this incident seems to be attacking Air India, claiming that this happened because of the “cheap” hotels where the airline places its crews during layovers. There’s also mention of how crew had repeatedly complained about lack of security at the hotel, but Air India refused to make changes.
Indeed, in recent years Air India has tried to cut costs when it comes to layover hotels for flight attendants. But does that put Air India at fault in any way? After all, when you consider the difference between a three-star hotel and a four-star hotel, being safe inside your room isn’t supposed to be a point of differentiation.
Now, we don’t know exactly how the intruder gained accessed to the room. Since the flight attendant was sleeping while she was attacked, one assumes that the door’s deadbolt wasn’t in use. At least that’s the case in virtually every hotel room intrusion story that I’ve heard of.
It’s always shocking to me how often we hear of incidents where there are intruders in the room, and the occupants of the room didn’t use the deadbolt. You should use it every second that you’re in the room, even if you’re not asleep. That’s even more the case if you’re at a hotel where you have safety concerns.
Of course a hotel should do everything it can to ensure guest security, though I also think the concept of trusting that any public spaces of a hotel are “safe” is unrealistic. Even if a hotel requires key cards for accessing elevators, that’s still not a foolproof way to prevent intruders. For that matter, often the “bad actors” in these situations are other hotel guests. This is also why it’s so important to deadbolt your door…
Speaking of London hotels and intrusions, some longtime OMAAT readers may remember my 2016 incident at the Sheraton Grand Park Lane London, where three child bandits broke into my room as I was checking in. Of course that wasn’t nearly as traumatizing — there was no assault — but the point is that you shouldn’t trust anyone in a hotel hallway.
Bottom line
An Air India flight attendant was attacked in her hotel room near London Heathrow Airport during a layover. The attack happened around 1:30AM, at which point a stranger entered her room and attacked her. This is beyond terrifying, and I can only imagine how hard that can be to recover from. It’s another reminder to always use the deadbolt in a hotel room when occupied.
What do you make of this incident?
What do CCTV records reveal or suggest?
I lived in London for several years in the early 2000s and what surprised me was how Brits viewed America as violent and dangerous when, in reality, the UK is full of dangerous criminals and has been for a long time. I've never been a victim of any street crime in the US but on two occasions in upscale areas of London I had to successfully defend myself against physical attack while walking on the...
I lived in London for several years in the early 2000s and what surprised me was how Brits viewed America as violent and dangerous when, in reality, the UK is full of dangerous criminals and has been for a long time. I've never been a victim of any street crime in the US but on two occasions in upscale areas of London I had to successfully defend myself against physical attack while walking on the street. Europe and especially London are not as safe as they want you to believe, mostly because they don't punish criminals harshly and they also ban gun ownership by non-criminals, yet the criminals still have guns. As for using the deadbolt and security latch at hotels, I've seen social media videos taken by hotel guests while in their rooms of criminals using hangers, wires, rubber bands, etc to defeat those, so best to bring and use your own door jam lock.
Arguing for an Americanization to gun laws seriously shows you don't understand how our society works. I accept that you lived here, but that doesn't mean we need guns. A stronger, more heavy handed policing (stop and search, etc) and better social institutions are the way forward, but both started falling apart because of cuts in spending during the recession. Not making excuses, but just explaining my observations.
While I lived there, I remember reading news articles about some farmer who had already been burglarized twice, and the third time he used his shotgun to shoot the burglar. The stupid British government put the poor farmer in jail! That shows just how backwards British thinking is when it comes to crime... They punish the victim when they should've given him a medal for ridding society of a repeat criminal. The crime and problems...
While I lived there, I remember reading news articles about some farmer who had already been burglarized twice, and the third time he used his shotgun to shoot the burglar. The stupid British government put the poor farmer in jail! That shows just how backwards British thinking is when it comes to crime... They punish the victim when they should've given him a medal for ridding society of a repeat criminal. The crime and problems that Britain has isn't due to any "recession cutbacks." It's due to liberal policies that don't punish criminals and compound the problem by letting anyone and everyone in to overrun the whole country as "asylum seekers." Britain really isn't even British anymore.
Of course recession cutbacks (aka austerity) played a role. No wonder police are now understaffed and underfunded to a point that they barely even respond to petty crimes, burglary, shoplifting, etc.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/24/shoplifting-rate-england-wales-rises-new-20-year-high
I have seen some "leaked" complaints from the most vocal crew who had been protesting about the hotel's security before this incident. They are outright racist. Complaints like "the hotel has too many nigro (sic) staff how can we be safe" and similar garbage. I don't doubt there were legitimate security concerns, but when they are couched as such blatant racism, I can see why management didn't take it entirely seriously until it escalated to...
I have seen some "leaked" complaints from the most vocal crew who had been protesting about the hotel's security before this incident. They are outright racist. Complaints like "the hotel has too many nigro (sic) staff how can we be safe" and similar garbage. I don't doubt there were legitimate security concerns, but when they are couched as such blatant racism, I can see why management didn't take it entirely seriously until it escalated to this unfortunate circumstance.
its obviously not racism if what they feared actually happened... It's called having common sense and street smarts. if something dont look right, it probably aint...
So you don’t want to speculate because the intruder was a Syrian refugee?
From everything I've read, the intruder was actually South Asian; likely Indian is the general consensus
How is this the airlines fault. London has become a crime infested city where acts of crime are carried out brazenly. There is no crime enforcement. Period.
Last month, I went to London for the very first time.
Last month, I traveled through LHR for the very first time.
I will never go back to London.
I will never again connect to LHR.
My heart goes out to to the airline worker who didn't deserve this.
With a dickhead handle like yours, London will be delighted you’re never going back again.
A a homeless Syrian refugee? You don't say...
Here is something you don't hear everyday: The Muslim culture still practices inbreeding and has been doing so for longer than any Egyptian dynasty. This practice also predates the world’s oldest monarchy (the Danish) by 300 years.
A rough estimate shows that close to half of all Muslims in the world are inbred: In Pakistan, 70 percent of all marriages are between FIRST COUSINS (so-called...
A a homeless Syrian refugee? You don't say...
Here is something you don't hear everyday: The Muslim culture still practices inbreeding and has been doing so for longer than any Egyptian dynasty. This practice also predates the world’s oldest monarchy (the Danish) by 300 years.
A rough estimate shows that close to half of all Muslims in the world are inbred: In Pakistan, 70 percent of all marriages are between FIRST COUSINS (so-called “consanguinity”) and in Turkey the amount is between 25-30 percent (Jyllands-Posten, 27/2 2009 More stillbirths among immigrants”). This practice affects intelligence. This practice can affect raw emotion and response to certain stimuli. So bury your head in the sand if you must. It's nice to think of a bubble-gum, lollypop world where everyone is "equal" (EEEEQUAL!, EEEQUAL!) however that isn't reality.
"we all have so much more in common than we have differences..."
Go tell that to the poor lady that got attacked because someone's savage-dna went out of control.
Londonestan is lost.
You are absolutely right. Perceiving diversity is indeed our weakness. We need to clearly see that all of humanity is one and that we all have so much more in common than we have differences. Hats off to your forward, open-minded thinking and thank you for pointing it out.
What’s your issue with London? And what specific issue do you have with “diversity”?
Reports confirming the attacker is a homeless Syrian refugee. European immigration policy is as insane as ours in the US.
Currently 4 LHR hotels are closed and been used as immigration shelters, with 2 more being considered. It’s a real mess and I see no end in sight at the moment.
The simple solution would be to build more housing, but somehow Brits in general are even harder against that than the staunchest San Francisco NIMBY. Aside from that, funding for the government immigration services that actually process all the refugee and asylum claims so that people aren't stuck in a decrepit repurposed hotel for years on end waiting for a decision. Hard to believe the once pre-eminent imperial power in the world can't bear to...
The simple solution would be to build more housing, but somehow Brits in general are even harder against that than the staunchest San Francisco NIMBY. Aside from that, funding for the government immigration services that actually process all the refugee and asylum claims so that people aren't stuck in a decrepit repurposed hotel for years on end waiting for a decision. Hard to believe the once pre-eminent imperial power in the world can't bear to do anything other than austerity spending and privatize government services that used to actually work.
Totally agreed, let's do something about it. Profile of the Unauthorized Population in the United States:
Mexico: 5,313,000
El Salvador: 741,000
Guatemala: 724,000
India: 553,000
Source: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/state/US
So many people talk about doing something.
But what can the government really do?
Ironically many of the immigrants are from the country that the imperial government broke.
Vinay: 553,000 illegal Indians in the US, not that they live next door 8000 miles away. How do we fix this insane immigration policy? Top four Unauthorized Population in the United States:
Mexico: 5,313,000
El Salvador: 741,000
Guatemala: 724,000
India: 553,000
Source: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/state/US
Simple answer - build a big wall and military control of our southern border. It's not rocket science.
Fantastic solution. With this we can eliminate Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. What about the 4th largest illegals in the country, the Indians? They are coming by air by the millions, what is the NON-rocket-science solution for them? We need to prepare ourselves for your NON-rocket-science solution as certain country I don't want to name, who breeds like rats and is ready to ship billions to the US.
You probably voted for Biden and now say the immigration policy is bad.... but no surprise on the attacker in London...
The attacker was caught and arrested at the scene. Will be interesting to read more about this shocking attack as more comes out.
I've noticed a lot of the newer, good hotels have a double dead bolt design now. There's the one that's right below the handle, where you turn it and it locks into place. The bad thing about that one is usually a keycard will unlock it too, which makes it useless except when someone is trying to brute force the door.
A second one is a chain that's toggled using a button on the frame...
I've noticed a lot of the newer, good hotels have a double dead bolt design now. There's the one that's right below the handle, where you turn it and it locks into place. The bad thing about that one is usually a keycard will unlock it too, which makes it useless except when someone is trying to brute force the door.
A second one is a chain that's toggled using a button on the frame of the door. It can't be defeated with a rubberband. unlike the older chain types, but honestly it doesn't look very sturdy at all, and I have suspicions that even a very tiny device can cut it.
Wow. London in general is very safe, so it's shocking to see this kind of thing. This hotel will probably suffer from the same negative publicity that happened at the Hyatt in Bangkok a few weeks ago.
I would not call London very safe. Lots of incidents with migrats dont make it to news unfortunately. Our culture and religion is getting attacked..
I wouldn't call London "generally safe", I would describe it as a city where one must use a high degree of caution at all times, avoid wearing expensive jewelry and watches, be on guard when using your phone in public, and totally avoid certain areas of the city. In short, it's the same advice I would give someone who planned to visit Sao Paulo or Cape Town.
Wow, vaguely remember the London child bandits and the Barcelona scam incident. It's been a while!
My sympathies to the flight attendant.
This kind of stuff unfortunately can happen in a lot of places, including even in higher end hotels. Thankfully, her colleagues heard her in anguish and were able and willing to come to her rescue by cutting short the assault.
'It’s another reminder to always use the deadbolt in a hotel room when occupied.'
I mean, does this hotel have deadbolts? And if they do, are they not able to be overcome with a keycard?
Most hotels I have stayed in for the past few years either don't have a deadbolt at all, or if they do, it does not prevent someone from using their keycard to access the room.
I love it...
'It’s another reminder to always use the deadbolt in a hotel room when occupied.'
I mean, does this hotel have deadbolts? And if they do, are they not able to be overcome with a keycard?
Most hotels I have stayed in for the past few years either don't have a deadbolt at all, or if they do, it does not prevent someone from using their keycard to access the room.
I love it when they have a physical chain or something, as this at least gives you some notice that someone is trying to access the room. Even the deadbolts that don't let normal keycards override them presumably grant access to certain keys.