Passenger charged with punching attendant on American Airlines flight
A California man was charged on Thursday after authorities said he punched a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight.
Alexander Tung Cuu Le, 33, allegedly punched a flight attendant in the back of the head on Wednesday’s flight from San José del Cabo, Mexico to Los Angeles, Calif., according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California.
Le has been charged with one count of interference with flight crew members and attendants, a federal crime with a maximum sentence of 20 years.
According to authorities, while the flight attendants were providing snacks and beverages to the plane on Wednesday, Le got up, grabbed one attendant’s shoulders from behind and asked for coffee.
Le then went to the front of the main cabin and sat in an unoccupied aisle. When a different flight attendant asked him to return to his seat, Le allegedly refused and attempted to punch him but missed.
When the flight attendant turned around to report Le’s behavior to the pilot, Le struck him in the back of the head, as seen in a video of the incident taken by another passenger.
Other passengers helped to apprehend Le, and he was restrained for the remainder of the flight.
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