A California woman who punched a flight attendant in the face during a flight a year ago, knocking out her teeth, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.
A federal judge in San Diego also ordered Vyvianna Quinonez, 29, to pay nearly $26,000 in restitution and a $7,500 fine for assault on a Southwest Airlines flight between Sacramento and San Diego on May 23, 2021.
During the final descent of the flight, the flight attendant had asked Quiñonez to fasten his seat belt, put the tray away and put on the mask correctly.
Instead, Quiñonez began He tried to record the assistant with his cell phone and pushed her. Then he stood up and assaulted her. He was physically attacked before other passengers intervened, authorities said.
Another passenger recorded the incident. the assault with her own cell phone.
The Sacramento woman is banned from flying for three years while she is in jail. under supervised release and shall attend anger management or counseling classes.
Quiñonez pleaded guilty. He was guilty last year of one count of interfering with crewmembers and flight attendants, admitting he hit a gun. He hit the stewardess in the face and head with a clenched fist and grabbed her. of her hair. Neither she nor her attorney could be reached for her views on Tuesday, when she issued a statement. the bug.
According to the plea agreement, the flight attendant suffered three chipped teeth, two of which required caps, along with bruises and a cut under his left eye that required capping. stitches.
“Attacks on flight crew members, who perform vital jobs to ensure the safety of passengers, will not be tolerated,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said in a post-sentencing statement.
The incident was part of an escalation of unruly behavior by airline passengers amid the coronavirus pandemic and led He called on the president of the flight attendants union to call for more federal air marshals on planes.
In 2021, US airlines reported more than 5,000 incidents with unruly passengers to the Administration. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Most of passengers who refused to comply with the federal requirement that passengers wear masks during flights, but nearly 300 were intoxicated passengers, the FAA said.