A Lufthansa plane that took off from Chicago this Saturday, October 26, should have landed in Frankfurt on Sunday. The plane did not land in Germany and had to be diverted to Boston airport because an Indian man attacked two teenagers with a fork, the Massachusetts federal prosecutor’s office reported Monday.
According to federal authorities, cited by the Associated Press and NBC News, Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, 28, first attacked a 17-year-old passenger. Armed with the fork supplied with the food served on board, he allegedly hit him on the left collarbone. He then allegedly pointed a second passenger, also 17, in the back of the head.
The crew then attempted to overpower the attacker. At that time, the latter allegedly simulated a suicide attempt by forming a gun with his fingers before putting it in his mouth and pulling the trigger, federal prosecutors continue. He then allegedly slapped a female passenger before attempting to slap a crew member.
Students from a Strasbourg high school on the plane
Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli was arrested after the plane landed at Boston’s Logan International Airport. Upon arriving in the United States with a student visa, he has since been in an illegal situation on American soil, authorities say.
According to France 3 Grand Est, two teachers and around twenty students from the Sainte-Clotilde high school in Strasbourg who were returning from a two-week school trip were on board the plane when the incident occurred.
The teachers and teenagers were stranded in Boston. “Fortunately, there was real mutual support. All the students mobilized and we ended up finding seven rooms available for two nights, time to catch another flight,” the professor said. Students and teachers finally returned to Strasbourg this Monday.
Source: BFM TV
