Ms. Quinonez, who was sitting in an aisle seat, stood up and punched the attendant within the face a number of occasions, in line with the video. She additionally grabbed her hair earlier than the lady was capable of transfer again up the aisle. A number of passengers grabbed at Ms. Quinonez’s garments to attempt to cease her.
Prosecutors mentioned the flight attendant, who was not named in courtroom paperwork, was taken to a hospital with accidents that included a swollen eye, a bruised arm and a minimize beneath her eye that needed to be stitched. They mentioned she additionally had three chipped enamel, two of which had to get replaced with crowns.
In accordance with courtroom paperwork, Ms. Quinonez sought a sentence of time served whereas prosecutors had requested 4 months in custody and 6 months in dwelling confinement. In imposing the longer sentence, Choose Robinson “strongly thought of the necessity for basic deterrence,” Jaclyn Stahl, an assistant U.S. legal professional, mentioned in an e-mail.
“He defined that the victims included not simply the flight attendant sufferer and Southwest Airways, however all passengers on the airplane that day and flight attendants working within the trade,” Ms. Stahl mentioned.
In a letter dated Might 18 and addressed to Choose Robinson, a Southwest consultant mentioned that the corporate needed the sentence to function a deterrent to unruly and violent conduct. The letter mentioned that the corporate’s govt staff had heard from “numerous flight attendants” who felt beneath assault throughout a pandemic that pushed worry round journey to an all-time excessive.
“What occurred on Flight 700 was completely horrific,” wrote Sonya Lacore, a vp at Southwest. “In my 20+ 12 months profession at Southwest, I’ve by no means seen such an inexcusable, violent assault of a flight attendant by a passenger. Even worse, the incident was captured on video and solid throughout tv and media channels.”
“The video of the assault nonetheless sickens me,” she added.
