A New York woman has been sentenced to four months in prison for interfering with crew members aboard a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles last year that had to be diverted to Phoenix.
Kelly Pichardo and another first-class passenger engaged in intimidating behavior on the flight and both women had to be removed from the plane after it landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Feb. 24, 2021.
Authorities said the women each assaulted a passenger during the flight and used racial slurs when a male passenger asked them to stop.
Kelly Pichardo, 32, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced by a United States District Judge last week, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
She previously pleaded guilty to interference with flight crew members. She also has to pay restitution to American Airlines totaling $9,123.
The two women got into a fight with another passenger who asked them to stop using a racial slur. One of the women spit at the male passenger who had asked her to stop using that language.
