A Japanese woman in an uproar on a trans-Pacific flight caused the jet to divert to Anchorage and forced pilots to jettison some 70,000 pounds of fuel to make the landing, according to court documents.
Fumi Hirakawa, 42, has been jailed in Anchorage on a felony charge of interfering with a flight crew since the Feb. 12 incident.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in court, Hirakawa was aboard a Delta Airlines flight from Tokyo to New York when, about 45 minutes into the flight, she began accosting a flight attendant offering beverage service.
Flight attendants tried to calm her, but Hirakawa continued screaming profanities in Japanese and separately hitting four flight attendants before being handcuffed and seat belted in her seat, according to the FBI. She continued to struggle and unbuckled her seat belt several times, prompting flight attendants to set up a 30-minute rotation to watch her, the FBI said.
Pilots were forced to dump 70,000 pounds of jet fuel to make the diverted landing in Anchorage, the FBI said.
Hirakawa has been ordered held in custody pending trial.
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