How to proceed in a tight environment?

[germinal]

I was the other day on a transatlantic flight, sitting next to a very pretty girl. And I could not for the life of me figure out how to manage the interaction.
She seemed interested and it was actually she who talked first, asking if I could watch over her stuff while she was going to the bathroom. At the same time, she was very shy and would reply to my attempts at a conversation with barely audible answers, give a few shy smiles, but never ask me anything in return. So the beginning felt a tiny bit like I was interviewing her, and seeing no viable alternative, I gave up and went about my business. When we landed we just said goodbye to each other and parted ways. Frustrating ending to say the least.
How do you manage interactions like that where you and the girl are in a public place and can't change spots for a considerable amount of time?
One of my mistakes I presume is I didn't tell her I thought she was cute. At the same time it could've made the situation awkward and tense since we'd be sitting together for another six hours. Your comments very much appreciated...

 

[Thinkingenigma]

Best way to work that is with a situational opener, then make sure you're asking open-ended questions so she can't just answer yes or no. If she continues to act shy or otherwise fails to engage, a cold read ("You're a shy one, aren't you") works wonders. You just need to get her to the hook point. Also, during a trip like that, the conversation will likely die down a few times, so make sure you bring along a good book to spark new topics to discuss.

 

[germinal]

Yes, the hook point... That kind of situation is very hard, I think, because you can't move fast (you can't move at all actually) and you can't really get intimate as there are so many people around. I remember Chase mentioning in one or several articles how he'd met this or that girl on a flight, I'd appreciate it if he could explain how he got around those issues.