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A man who the authorities say attacked two teenagers with a fork on a flight
from Chicago to Germany over the weekend, forcing the plane to divert to
Boston, was arrested and charged with assault, federal prosecutors announced
on Monday.
 
The  U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said that
Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, 28, stabbed two 17-year-olds with the metal fork
during meal service about two hours into the Lufthansa flight, which had been
scheduled to travel from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany. He struck one of the
passengers in the shoulder and the other in the back of the head, according to
a federal complaint filed in the District Court of Massachusetts.
 
Mr. Usiripalli was arrested on Saturday after the plane landed in Boston. If
convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and up to three years of
unsupervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
 
Lufthansa said in a statement that passengers on the diverted flight were
provided with hotels and rebooked on the next available flights to Germany out
of Boston.
 
"The safety and well-being of our passengers and crew are always Lufthansa's
highest priority," Tal Muscal, a spokesperson for the airline, said in a
statement.
 
It was not clear what led to the attack. One teenager had been asleep in a
middle seat, according to prosecutors, when he awoke to see Mr. Usiripalli
standing over him. Mr. Usiripalli attempted to stab him in the clavicle area
with the fork, prosecutors said in the release, but the passenger escaped
injury because a thick sweatshirt blocked the fork. The second teenager was
not as fortunate, suffering a gash to the back of the head.
 
Two flight attendants and a passenger rushed to intervene after hearing the
disturbance and tried to restrain Mr. Usiripalli. He then gestured as if
firing a gun into his mouth before turning to slap a nearby woman, according
to the federal complaint. He also attempted to strike a flight attendant
before being subdued.
 
The flight was diverted and landed safely at Logan International Airport.
 
Federal prosecutors charged Mr. Usiripalli with assault with a dangerous
weapon with intent to do bodily harm while traveling on an aircraft under U.S.
jurisdiction. He is set to appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

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