Smoker Allegedly Punches JetBlue Flight Attendant In Face

WNBC.COM ^ | 6/19/08 | Puppage

[Puppage]

A Queens woman was arrested by federal authorities after a JetBlue flight was forced to make an emergency landing because she allegedly lit and refused to extinguish a cigarette on the plane and punched a flight attendant in the face, according to KUSA.com.

The plane was en route from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday when officials said passenger Christina Szele, 35, lit a cigarette in her seat and starting smoking, the Rocky Mountain News reported.

Smoking is forbidden on all domestic flights, but the Rocky Mountain News reported that when a flight attendant confronted Szele, she screamed obscenities and racial epithets at the man, according to court documents. Szele is white and the attendant is black, reported the paper.

Attendants managed to restrain Szele with flex cuffs, but she broke free and allegedly punched the flight attendant who initially had confronted her, Paul Whyte, in the jaw, according to KUSA.com.

One flight attendant said Szele punched him.

The plane made an emergency landing in Denver, Colo., where federal authorities removed Szele from the flight.

Szele was charged with assault and interfering with a flight crew in U.S. District Court in Denver.

A detention hearing is scheduled Monday for Szele, who faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted of the interference with flight charge. In addition, she faces six months and up to a $10,000 fine for the assault charge, reported KUSA.com.

About 145 passengers were on board the plane, which had a crew of five, according to KUSA.com.

[Puppage]

she screamed obscenities and racial epithets at the man, according to court documents

Wadda sweetheart.

[Vaduz]

20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000
WTF for a smoke

[Domandred]

There is a smoking section outside the door on row 8 :)

[centurion316]

She is not going to like how this turns out. She would stand a better chance if she had held up a convenience store and shot the attendant.

[Doctor Raoul]

They should have just let her go outside to smoke...

[keats5]

Heck, I don’t know whose side to take!

I’d hate to sit next to a smoker on a plane, but it’s nice to see someone rebel against the airlines.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

I’d shot the b*tch myself on the spot.

[Non-Sequitur]

She’s in trouble. I believe that federal prisons have designated smoking and no-smoking areas now.

[Pylon]

[megatherium]

But smoking is a habit and not an addiction. <grin>

[KarlInOhio]

I'm normally opposed to lawsuits, but I would love for the airline to sue her for the full cost (including airplane depreciation) of the landing and takeoff. Jet fuel ain't cheap.

[TheDon]

Should have just killed the flight attendant, I think that’s only 8 years in prison...

[Rio]

I didn’t know that you could get through security with a lighter or matches these days.

[RetiredArmy]

Smoking seats are available on the wings.

[agere_contra]

20 years! Thats more than you get for being a Border Patrol agent.

[Pylon]

From Smoking Gun, the perp

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0619081smoke1.html

[Puppage]

Oooof. Face like a blind cobbler’s thumb.

[poobear]

I just want to know how she got on the plane with a lighter? Been through security lately?

[Tolkien]

That's a sideways Darwin award there!!

20 years? Wow.

[Puppage]

I just want to know how she got on the plane with a lighter?

Now, that's a damn good question. Maybe it was matches?

[newnhdad]

Guity..

[newnhdad]

aka Guilty..

[lesser_satan]

I’d hate to sit next to a smoker on a plane, but it’s nice to see someone rebel against the airlines.

The airlines have nothing to do with it, it's an FAA rule.

[MindBender26]

It’s not the smoking. It’s the assault.

Screw her.

[CholeraJoe]

I can't see her teeth, but the complexion and glassy-eyed stare suggests she's a tweaker.

6 Safety Tips for Approaching a Heavy Meth User:

1. Keep a 7-10 ft. distance. Coming too close can be perceived as threatening.
2. Do not shine bright lights at him. The tweaker is already paranoid and if blinded by a bright light he is likely to run or become violent.
3. Slow your speech and lower the pitch of your voice. A tweaker already hears sounds at a fast pace and in a high pitch.
4. Slow your movements. This will decrease the odds that the tweaker will misinterpret your physical actions.
5. Keep your hands visible. If you place your hands where the tweaker cannot see them, he might feel threatened and could become violent.
6. Keep the tweaker talking. A tweaker who falls silent can be extremely dangerous. Silence often means that his paranoid thoughts have taken over reality, and anyone present can become part of the tweaker's paranoid delusions.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

But, mainly ugly.

[Pylon]

I don’t know, maybe after a 6 pack, a bottle of Bushmills, A bottle of Absolute, another 6 pack......

[lesser_satan]

Lighters are forbidden, matches are OK.

[OB1kNOb]

[353FMG]

That’s a great idea as long as the airlines peovide spittoons.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

7. Mention that you are voting for Obama.

[beltfed308]

Most airlines don’t allow smokeless either.

[Capt_Hank]

You can bring a regular lighter, Bic, etc. But not a butane lighter.

[poobear]

Well, duh. Guess she stuffed them into a less that apparent area.

[johnny7]

20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 WTF for a smoke

She wanted some attention... hopefully, she'll get 20 years of it.

[Disturbin]

“Now, that’s a damn good question. Maybe it was matches? “

I think she’s smoking something different than the male flight attendant.

[mowowie]

my gf flew back and forth to vegas and back with a lighter last month.
nobody said a thing.

[Non-Sequitur]

"By this affidavit and application, I respectfully request this Court issue an arrest warrant for Christina Elizabeth Szele."

And I volunteer to serve it.

[highimpact]

TSA allows lighters now...I’m not sure when that restriction was lifted, but it must have been in the past few months. I flew across the country twice in the past two weeks, and both times it was no problem for me to bring a lighter through the security check.

[Non-Sequitur]

According to the affidavit it was matches.

[Xenalyte]

>>I’d hate to sit next to a smoker on a plane, but it’s nice to see someone rebel against the airlines.<<

Yeah! And how about them health Nazis at the local hospitals, telling people they can’t smoke in rooms where oxygen is being used? Where do they get off?

[JRios1968]

[Pylon]

Hmm, I use it on AA, UA, WN, DL, never once questioned. I bring my own empty bottle and take it off with me but I also don’t make it blatantly obvious that I am doing it and always ask my seatmate if it is ok.

[Centurion2000]

She's got that 1984 kind of face.

The one that looks like it's had a boot stepping on it forever.

[mowowie]

She looks like party chick who’s been to one too many parties.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

LOL, and those people that don’t want you to drive 75 miles an hour through a school zone. Stuff em!

[A_Former_Democrat]

What, no condom?

[MindBender26]

In Texas they would describe her as “Rode Hard, Then Put Away Wet.”

[MindBender26]

Old Country and Western hit song:

“The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time”

[xjcsa]

I’d hate to sit next to a smoker on a plane, but it’s nice to see someone rebel against the airlines.

Yeah, assault is so charming. Ass.