Malaysia Airlines crew member detained for sexual assault

Malaysia Airlines confirmed Thursday in a statement that one of its crew members was detained by the French police for alleged "inappropriate sexual behaviour" with a passenger.

In the statement, the airline said that it could confirm that following allegations by a passenger travelling on flight MH20 from Kuala Lumpur to Paris Aug 4, 2014, of inappropriate sexual behaviour by a member of the cabin crew, the staffer in question had been detained for questioning by the French police, Xinhua reported.

The company said it "expects and accepts nothing short of the highest standards of conduct from its crew and takes any such allegations very seriously", adding that it would assist the French authorities in the investigation.

This followed reports saying that a Malaysia Airlines cabin crew member was detained in France for alleged sexual assault on an Australian passenger.

According to the reports, the crew member initially offered to sit beside the passenger who expressed nervousness about flying after the disappearance of flight MH370 in March and the crash of flight MH17 in July. However, the act later turned into a sexual assault.