'Drunk' passenger lashes out at cabin crew, breaks flight attendant's leg

Maxim Pashnin could face up to six years behind bars after breaking a flight attendant's leg during an altercation on a plane. Photo / Facebook

A drunk Aeroflot passenger has been banned from flying with the carrier after reportedly breaking a flight attendant's leg during an altercation with other flight crew members before takeoff when he was asked to stop smoking a cigarette.

On May 14, passenger Maxim Pashnin was on a flight from Siberia to Moscow when he lit a cigarette on the aircraft.

According to local media, a female attendant approached Pashnin and asked him to stop but he turned violent.

After an exchange of words, Pashnin "pushed the young woman stewardess inside the cockpit and then hit the pilots, the captain and the co-pilot," police said.

"These three crew members resisted and managed to block the hooligan, and pass him into the hands of police."

During the scuffle, Pashnin broke the leg of a senior flight attendant, reps for Aeroflot told the International Business Times.

"After that the man initiated the fight with passengers and with policemen who arrived to remove the hooligan from the flight," a spokesperson for the carrier said.

"As a result, the senior steward has got an injury — his leg was broken.

"Aeroflot intends to demand the maximum punishment with paying damages to both the aviation company and its employees."

According to local media, Pashnin faces up to six years behind bars for "air hooliganism" and violence against police.

Doctors confirmed Pashnin was intoxicated during the incident.

Pashnin was arrested by police after crew managed to restrain the unruly passenger.

Takeoff was delayed by 20 minutes due to the incident.

"It's lucky all this happened at the airport rather than when we were flying. Can you imagine the terror if he had gone crazy during the flight?" a passenger who witnessed the scene told the Mirror.

More than 150 passengers were on board.