A woman faces federal charges after she allegedly lit up a cigarette on a flight and then assaulted a flight attendant, forcing the plane to land in Denver. JetBlue flight 643 was on its way from JFK airport in New York City to San Francisco when the pilot had to make an unexpected landing at Denver International Airport Tuesday afternoon.
According to an arrest affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney's office, 35-year-old Christina Szele of Woodside, NY, "smoked in her seat; yelled obscenities and racial epithets" and later punched a male flight attendant in the face. An FBI investigator described the incident in the affidavit filed in federal court Wednesday.
It says Szele was temporarily restrained with flex cuffs on the flight and moved to the front of the plane. When she continued to kick and scream, the flight captain made the decision to divert the plane to DIA. The woman was arrested and taken into custody at DIA and later transferred to the Denver City Jail. She was released Wednesday morning.
A passenger in the seat behind her said he "heard and smelled a match strike." Passenger David Stone wrote in a statement, "I smelled cigarette smoke, leaned forward and saw the lit cigarette in her hand."
According to the arrest affidavit, the flight attendant, Paul Whyte, told investigators he saw Szele light up a cigarette in her seat 10F, which happens to be in the exit row. So, Whyte said, he "snatched" the cigarette from her mouth and told her she was endangering the other passengers.
Whyte said Szele then started to "kick and scream." That's when Whyte put a pair of flex cuffs on her with her hands in the front and moved her to the first row of seats. While Whyte was back talking to passengers about what happened, Szele got herself out of the flex cuffs.
When Whyte returned to the front row to put another pair of flex cuffs on Szele, she got physical and punched him with a closed fist in the left jaw. Whyte says Szele was yelling racial epithets to him the entire time and said, "I'm going to get you." She also threatened to kill him.
According to the flight crew, Szele spent the rest of the flight "kicking the bulkhead wall in front of her and stomped on the floor." The flight captain onboard told investigators he was informed by flight attendants they had caught a woman smoking in her seat.
Captain John Shanahan then watched the rest of the incident on the aircraft's closed circuit television system. He described to investigators that "he saw crew members holding Szele by the arms." Shanahan then decided to divert the aircraft to Denver.
After two hours on the ground, the plane continued on to San Francisco. Investigators questioned Szele while she was in a holding cell at the Airport Bureau of the Denver Police Department at DIA.
Szele told investigators she doesn't remember hitting anyone because she was drunk and blamed the flight crew, saying they "served her three vodka drinks." The crew told investigators she was served only one drink.
Szele also admitted to investigators that she drank two beers at home prior to leaving for the airport. She told the investigators she normally curses a lot and often uses the "F" word.
Szele said if she did hit someone, "he must have hurt her because she is not a violent person." Szele faces two federal counts: interference with a flight attendant and simple assault.
Szele could get up to 20 years and up to a $250,000 fine for the interference with a flight attendant charge, and an additional six months and up to $10,000 fine for the assault charge.