Arne Dedert/picture alliance via Getty Images
- A Lufthansa flight had to turn back after a passenger allegedly attacked people with a metal fork.The man is charged with assault and faces up to a decade in prison and a $250,000 fine.Unruly passenger incidents have fallen in recent years, but still occur twice as often as pre-COVID.
A passenger allegedly stabbed two teenagers with a metal fork during a Lufthansa flight on Saturday from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany — an incident that forced the aircraft to return to the US.
The US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, part of the Justice Department, said that Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, a 28-year-old Indian national, attacked two 17-year-old passengers after the meal service. Lufthansa is Germany's flag carrier.
When the crew moved to subdue him, the US Attorney's Office said Usiripalli slapped another passenger. One teen suffered a cut to the back of his head.
The Transportation Security Administration allows forks in carry-on bags on commercial flights, but utensils with a sharpened edge or a pointed tip that could be used as a stabbing tool may be confiscated.
Usiripalli has been charged with "assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm" aboard an aircraft under US jurisdiction.
The US Attorney's Office said the charge carries a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
Court documents available as of Tuesday do not say whether Usiripalli has a legal representative.
Flightaware
The complaint said there were 285 passengers and crew onboard the plane. Data from the aviation tracking website Flightaware shows the Boeing 747 landed about five and a half hours after leaving Chicago.
Usiripalli was taken into custody in Boston and will later appear in federal court. The US Attorney's Office said he entered the US on a student visa to pursue a master's degree in biblical studies but "presently does not have lawful status" in the country.
A Lufthansa spokesperson told Business Insider that passengers had to overnight in Boston, adding that the airline "made every effort" to provide hotel accommodations, rebooked customers on later flights to Frankfurt, and offered psychological support.
Unruly behavior has surged
It's unclear whether Usiripalli will also face civil penalties from the Federal Aviation Administration for the allegedly violent acts on the flight. The agency said it is "not responding to routine media inquiries" due to the government shutdown.
The FAA broadly defines unruly as "failing to follow crew instructions or engaging in disruptive or violent behavior on a plane," and more severe cases can be referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FAA can fine passengers up to $43,658 per infraction (in addition to any criminal charges), and a single incident can result in higher total penalties if it involves multiple violations or especially severe conduct. Unruly behavior can also affect TSA PreCheck eligibility and land passengers on airline no-fly lists.
Assaults on aircraft are relatively rare, but misbehavior has become more common, particularly since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
Between 2020 and 2024, the FAA issued nearly $21 million in fines to unruly passengers, including its largest-ever fines of $81,950 and $77,272 in 2022 for separate incidents.
The worst year was 2021, when the FAA reported nearly 6,000 cases — six times the number reported in the previous year. Although rates have fallen by 80% since the COVID-era peak, incidents remain more than double the pre-pandemic levels.
There were about 2,100 unruly passenger cases in 2024 versus about 1,000 in 2020. So far in 2025, the FAA has reported about 1,200 incidents.
For example, a Chicago-bound American Airlines plane had to turn back to Connecticut in May after a passenger attempted to drag a flight attendant down the aisle, according to an FBI agent's affidavit.
In early October, a United Airlines passenger tried to open the exit door after landing in Houston, triggering the emergency slide.
Last year, a passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight attacked an off-duty law enforcement officer with a makeshift weapon. On a separate Alaska flight in 2024, the cabin crew used a beverage cart to prevent a passenger from attempting to access the cockpit mid-flight.
