Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Germany diverted to Boston after man allegedly stabs two teens

A Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Germany had to be diverted to Boston after an alleged stabbing. Photo / David Syphers on Unsplash

A man allegedly stabbed two teenagers with a metal fork and attempted to slap a crew member aboard a Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Germany, causing the plane to divert to Boston, authorities said yesterday. .

A short way into Sunday’s flight, just after the meal service, one of the victims, a 17-year-old boy, awoke to find the accused, Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, 28, standing over him in the middle seat, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a news release.

The Indian national allegedly stabbed the boy in the left collar bone area with a metal fork before stabbing a second boy, also 17, who was seated beside him in a centre row, in the back of the head with the fork, causing a laceration.

The victims have not been publicly identified.

As flight crew members attempted to subdue Usiripalli, authorities say he formed an imaginary gun with his fingers and gestured that he was shooting himself in the mouth.

The man then slapped a female passenger to his left and attempted to slap a flight crew member, charging documents state.

The plane, which took off from Chicago O’Hare International Airport bound for Frankfurt, was in the air for about two hours before it landed early due to the incident, according to FlightAware. Usiripalli was taken into custody at Boston Logan International Airport, authorities said.

Usiripalli was charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with the intent to do bodily harm.

He faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a maximum fine of US$250,000, according to the US Attorney’s office.

“Usiripalli presently does not have lawful status in the US,” the US Attorney’s office said, adding that he had previously been admitted to the country on a student visa and was recently enrolled in a master’s programme for biblical studies.

The Massachusetts State Police, Lufthansa Airlines and the Transportation Security Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration has warned that airlines have seen “rapid growth” in unruly passenger incidents in recent years.

It defines such incidents as those “where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behaviour”. The FAA has documented at least 1205 unruly incidents so far this year.

Earlier this year, a 35-year-old Massachusetts man was sentenced to time served and five years of supervised release after spending 26 months in prison for attempting to stab a flight attendant in the neck with a broken metal spoon aboard a United Airlines flight from Boston to Los Angeles in March 2023.

Last year, a man aboard an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Las Vegas was arrested after authorities said he stabbed a fellow passenger with an improvised weapon made of several pens bound together by rubber bands.

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