The married architect and the divorced care home boss accused of having sex aboard a plane have seen their case dismissed, with the woman claiming cabin crew fabricated the allegations following an argument over a glass of whisky.
The decision by prosecutors does not confirm that Mauricio C., 54, and Sandra O., 59, were not engaged in sexual activity when detained by Airport Security Police (PSA). Rather, the case was archived because prosecutors could not prove the pair acted with the deliberate intent to exhibit themselves or offend public decency.
The two were detained after crew members reported seeing them in an intimate encounter in the business-class cabin.
The incident occurred aboard a Copa Airlines flight from Panama to Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, on 9th May.
The aircraft touched down at Rosario's Islas Malvinas International Airport at around 12:12 am, where passengers were temporarily prevented from disembarking while security personnel handled the situation.
The two Rosario residents were seated in 1E and 1F and had reportedly covered themselves with a blanket before cabin crew intervened, allegedly finding them partially undressed.
The situation was initially flagged by a woman travelling with her granddaughter after the child noticed movement under the blanket, prompting her to alert a flight attendant.
The crew member alerted the captain, who requested the intervention of airport police prior to landing.
When the flight touched down, officers boarded the aircraft, took Mauricio and Sandra into custody, and transferred them for formal processing and identification.
The pair had reportedly not met prior to the flight and only became acquainted during the journey.
Mauricio, an architect and railway construction manager, is married with three children. His family was waiting at the terminal to pick him up when officers escorted him away.
Sandra, who is divorced and also lives in central Rosario, reportedly manages a day centre and elder-care facility.
The case was investigated under Argentina's public indecency statute, though neither passenger was ultimately formally charged.
Over a three-month investigation, prosecutors gathered statements from passengers and crew, PSA reports, and photographic layouts of the aircraft's interior.
When formally interviewed by prosecutors, the woman seated behind them clarified that while she saw the pair talking and kissing, she did not witness an explicit sexual act. Another passenger statement noted an individual confronting Mauricio after allegedly spotting exposed genitals.
Investigators also faced an evidential hurdle due to the absence of security cameras in the business-class cabin, leaving no direct footage of the encounter.
Sandra's defence maintained that the incident was fabricated in retaliation after a heated argument with a flight attendant over a glass of whisky during mid-flight turbulence.
Prosecutor María Cecilia Marcolin Loberse, of Rosario's Specialised Unit for Gender Violence and Sexual Offences, officially dismissed the investigation.
Her ruling established that the conduct failed to meet the legal threshold for criminal obscenity. Under Argentine law, being seen by third parties in a shared space is insufficient to secure a conviction; the statute strictly requires dolo directo, a proven, deliberate intention to expose oneself or offend the modesty of others.
The prosecution clarified that the dismissal does not declare the alleged acts never occurred, but that the evidence gathered could not substantiate a criminal offence. The file has now been definitively archived.
(Marija Stojkoska/Newsflash)
