A woman accused of smoking a cigarette during her flight and punching a flight attendant who tried to stop her was charged in U.S. District Court in Denver with assault and interfering with a flight crew.
Elizabeth Szele, 35, of Woodside, N.Y., was advised of the charges against her today.
She was arrested Tuesday after a JetBlue Airways flight from New York to San Francisco was diverted to Denver because of the disturbance.
Court records say Szele started smoking a cigarette in flight. She was confronted by a flight attendant, and in response, Szele yelled obscenities, including racial epithets, according to the criminal complaint.
Flight attendants attempted to restrain Szele with flex cuffs, but she broke through the cuffs and punched an attendant in the face, the records say. She was restrained a second time.
If convicted of interfering with a flight crew, Szele faces up to 20 years in federal prison, and a $250,000 fine. If convicted of assault, she faces a maximum six months in prison, and up to a $10,000 fine.
