Colleen Slaven
Denver (Associated Press) – A 20-year-old Californian man accused of assaulting a flight attendant on an American Airlines transnational flight allegedly beat the woman in the face after being told that he could not use the bathroom. Let her nose bleed according to court documents and gave her a concussion.
The prosecutor announced that Brian Hsu, 20, of Irvine, was charged with assaulting and harassing the crew on a flight from New York’s Kennedy International Airport to Santa Ana John Wayne Airport in California on October 27.
He appeared in California federal court on November 1 and was released on bail of $10,000. He was ordered to appear in Denver Federal Court on November 15, where the flight was diverted after the alleged attack.
I don’t know if Xu has a lawyer who can comment on his behalf.
According to an affidavit from an FBI agent investigating the incident, four witnesses and an unnamed flight attendant stated that Xu assaulted the flight attendant on the October 27 flight. At the same time, Xu said he was returning home after undergoing brain surgery in Rhode Island. He told investigators that the waiter rushed towards him and hit her nose with her palm.
Xu said that he accidentally hit the stewardess with his arm or hand while stretching, and she began to swing her hand towards him. He said, worried that she would hit him on the head, he raised his hands defensively. According to Xu, the waiter then rushed towards him and hit his palm. According to the document, Xu said that he suffered a skull injury in New York City last fall, and that he sometimes had mental “fogs” when he had trouble thinking.
According to the document, the waiter told investigators that she was talking to a colleague when she felt that something hit her head and turned to look at Xu. He said he wanted to go to the bathroom.
She said she told him he couldn’t because the “fasten seat belt” sign was on. She said, and then he raised his arms as if to stretch and hit her on the head with his elbows, causing her to stretch out her arms and raise her hands to protect herself, she said, according to the document.
After he seemed to flinch, she said that he rushed to her and beat her with his right hand.
The document stated that Xu was later fixed on the seat with tape and then used “plastic adhesive” to tell investigators that he could not make a fist with his right hand due to his injuries.
The head of the union representing the airline’s flight attendants, the Flight Attendants Association, praised the decision to bring charges against Hsu to help stop verbal and physical abuse on the flight. However, Sara Nelson also asked the federal government, airlines and airports to take more measures to hold destructive passengers accountable, including drawing up a list of people who are prohibited from taking any airline flights.
“This is not the new normal we are willing to accept,” Nelson said.
