ASTRAKHAN, March 18 (RIA Novosti) – A plane en route from Moscow to India was forced to make an emergency landing in southern Russia late Monday after a drunken passenger attacked flight attendants, emergency officials said Tuesday.
The Boeing-757 plane was en route to the popular Indian resort town Goa carrying 212 passengers.
“The plane landed at 10 p.m. due to an unruly drunken passenger on board,” said Angelika Barinova, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The man reportedly harassed female flight attendants before being tied down by other male passengers. Eyewitnesses said the attacker was traveling together with his friends and a girlfriend.
“He attacked female flight attendants and kicked them…He bit them until they bled, he bit his friends and his girlfriend, and was always shouting,” one of the passengers told the Russian NTV channel.
The attacker, who was handed over to law enforcement, faces criminal penalties for disorderly conduct and public intoxication.
The plane resumed its trip Tuesday morning after passengers and crew members spent a night at hotels in Astrakhan.
Russia has recently seen a series of similar incidents on planes, which have prompted the country’s lawmakers to push for tougher punishment for rowdy passengers.
