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The passenger on a Southwest flight who pleaded guilty to repeatedly hitting a flight attendant last year after being told to wear her face mask will spend up to 15 months in federal custody, after of a court decision Friday.
Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, also has to pay about $ 26,000 in restitution following an incident that left the Southwest Airlines employee with three broken teeth and an eye injury that required stitches last May. inform FOX 5 San Diego.
Quinonez must also pay a $ 7,500 fine and serve an additional three years of supervised release, according to court documents.
He will also have to undergo courses in counseling or anger management and will be banned from flying on commercial airlines, according to the report.
Disruption on Southwest Airlines Flight 700 at San Diego International Airport. (Taro Arai) (Taro Arai)
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“Today’s ruling should send a very strong message to air travelers: the FBI will vigorously prosecute anyone who assaults or interferes with flight crews,” said FBI Special Agent Stacey Moy said in a statement to FOX San Diego.
Disruption on Southwest Airlines Flight 700 at San Diego International Airport. (Taro Arai) (Taro Arai)
Airline officials say Quinonez became erratic after he denied orders from staff members to wear a face mask, wear a seat belt and lift the table from the tray before starting to shout at staff and push -the bear. He then attacked the flight attendant, according to the report.
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Other staff members were involved in the incident and several passengers on the flight from Sacramento to San Diego joined forces to stop the dispute, Fox 5 reported.
A Southwest Airlines employee is assisting a passenger to check in at a counter at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport on October 11, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia. (Alex Wong / Getty Images / Getty Images)
A Southwest Airlines spokesman said Quinonez “created a situation aboard Flight 700 that endangered the entire flight and created an unsafe environment,” he said in a letter to the U.S. District Court.
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“Quinónez’s actions negatively affected our working group beyond description … causing fear to enter the workplace permanently,” the spokesman added, according to the report.
He said he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine.