FBI: Flight Diverted After NYC Woman Lights Up
Passenger Accused Of Punching Attendant In Face, Screaming Racial
Epithets
DENVER (CBS) ? An unruly JetBlue passenger from Queens who lit up a
cigarette mid-flight Tuesday forced the 145-passenger flight to be
diverted after she became violent and uncooperative when asked to stop
smoking, CBS 2 has learned.

Christina Szele, 35, was arrested and charged with assault and
interfering with a flight crew, and remains locked up in Denver until
a detention hearing scheduled for Monday.

According to an FBI affidavit, Szele, who resides in the Woodside
section of Queens, boarded JetBlue Flight 643 from New York to San
Francisco after having consumed two beers at home. She told
investigators that once onboard the plane, she then consumed three
drinks containing vodka.

Sometime after the third drink, flight attendants told authorities
that Szele began smoking in her seat. One of the attendants,
identified as Paul Whyte, approached Szele and took the cigarette out
of her mouth, telling her she was endangering the other passengers.

Whyte, who is black, claimed that Szele began kicking and screaming
and when he tried to restrain her with flex cuffs after she'd already
broken through one pair, she punched in him in the face with a closed
fist and called him a "dumb m----- f-----" and racial epithets.

Whyte said that Szele also told him "I'm going to get you" and
threatened to kill him.

Eventually, the captain decided to divert the flight to Denver, where
Szele was apprehended by federal agents.

Inside a holding cell in Denver, however, Szele said she didn't
remember smoking on the flight or hitting the flight attendant, and
that if she did, she was likely drunk. She told authorities she wasn't
a violent person, but often uses the "F" word.

The affidavit says Szele told investigators she thought she was being
abused by the crew when they tried putting her in flex cuffs.

If convicted on all charges, Szele faces 20 years in prison and more
than $250,000 in fines.

This isn't the first time Szele has been in trouble with the law. In
2007, she was arrested in Santa Barbara, Calif. on disorderly conduct
charges.

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