## Facts

- A Scandinavian Airlines commercial flight traveled from Copenhagen, Denmark to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
- While the aircraft was over the mid-Atlantic, a Romanian national passenger allegedly touched the genitals of a nine-year-old Norwegian girl.
- A federal grand jury indicted the defendant for sexual abuse of a child under twelve under 18 U.S.C. § 2241(c), as applied aboard aircraft through 49 U.S.C. App. § 1472(k)(1) (special aircraft jurisdiction).
- The defendant moved to dismiss, arguing the United States lacked criminal jurisdiction because the aircraft was foreign, both parties were non-U.S. nationals, and the conduct occurred over international waters.

## Issues

1. Whether the “special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States” authorizes federal prosecution of an alien’s sexual abuse of an alien child on a foreign civil aircraft over the high seas when the aircraft’s first landing after the offense is in the United States.
2. Whether the special aircraft jurisdiction statute is limited to offenses connected to aircraft piracy or hijacking.

## Decision

- The court denied the motion to dismiss the indictment.
- The court held the flight fell within the special aircraft jurisdiction because it was an international flight scheduled to stop in the United States and actually landed in the United States.
- The court held 49 U.S.C. App. § 1472(k)(1) makes specified federal crimes, including chapter 109A sexual abuse offenses, punishable when committed aboard an aircraft within that jurisdiction, even if 18 U.S.C. § 7 would not otherwise apply.
- The court rejected the argument that jurisdiction is confined to piracy-related crimes, concluding Congress expressly extended coverage to enumerated non-piracy offenses, including sexual abuse.

## Legal Principles

- Federal criminal jurisdiction exists for offenses enumerated in 49 U.S.C. App. § 1472(k)(1) when committed aboard an aircraft within the statute’s “special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.”
- The special aircraft jurisdiction includes foreign civil aircraft on scheduled international flights to the United States when the aircraft actually lands in the United States after the offense.
- For such aircraft, § 1472(k)(1) operates as a jurisdictional mechanism that applies incorporated Title 18 offenses (including 18 U.S.C. § 2241(c)) without requiring independent satisfaction of 18 U.S.C. § 7’s special maritime and territorial jurisdiction.
- Jurisdiction under the special aircraft statute is not limited to hijacking or piracy-related offenses; listed crimes are punishable regardless of any connection to aircraft piracy.

## Conclusion

The court held that Congress authorized federal prosecution of specified crimes, including child sexual abuse, committed aboard foreign aircraft bound for and landing in the United States, and it therefore denied dismissal of the indictment despite the offense occurring over international waters and involving only non-U.S. nationals.


United States v. Georgescu, 723 F. Supp. 912 (E.D.N.Y. 1989)