A drunken passenger heading to New York for a birthday party allegedly caused chaos on a United Airlines flight after crew members refused to serve her more alcohol.
Kristina Kedysheva, 36, was accused of trying to open a plane door midair, biting and kicking a flight attendant and scratching another passenger during the wild incident aboard United Airlines Flight 18 from Milan to Newark.
According to a federal complaint, Kedysheva had already been drinking heavily when she began demanding more alcohol and acting erratically.
A fellow passenger reportedly described her as “nutty,” while crew members said she was slurring her words and filming them on her phone as she accused them of being racist for cutting her off.
Things quickly escalated.
Authorities said Kedysheva refused repeated orders from the captain to return to her seat and eventually reached for the handle of a rear aircraft door.
Five crew members and passengers were needed to restrain her, according to the complaint.
During the struggle, Kedysheva allegedly bit a flight attendant on the wrist and kicked the worker in the stomach. The attendant reportedly suffered a shoulder injury and difficulty breathing.
She is also accused of scratching another passenger on the arm badly enough that the person needed medical treatment.
Investigators said Kedysheva continued thrashing and fighting against her restraints for roughly three hours.
The disturbance became so serious that the Boeing 777 was diverted to Bangor, Maine, shortly before noon on Tuesday.
Police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and FBI agents were waiting when the plane landed.
Kedysheva was taken into custody and later interviewed by the FBI with help from a Russian-language interpreter.
She told investigators she was traveling to New York to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday.
Kedysheva admitted drinking three glasses of red wine and a whiskey and cola during the first few hours of the flight.
She claimed the crew became rude to her after refusing to serve her more alcohol and blamed a flight attendant for starting the confrontation.
According to the affidavit, she said an “Italian guy” grabbed her cellphone during the altercation.
Kedysheva denied biting anyone, although she admitted she may have scratched someone.
“It was too much, so quickly,” she reportedly told investigators. “Maybe, maybe, but I think it’s OK in this situation.”
Video recovered from her cellphone allegedly showed her arguing with flight attendants, demanding more alcohol and refusing orders to return to her seat.
At one point, crew members warned her that the pilot would be forced to divert the plane if she did not sit down.
Kedysheva appeared in federal court in Maine on Wednesday and faces charges including interference with a flight crew member or attendant and assault.
United Airlines said Flight 18 was carrying 274 passengers and 13 crew members.
The plane landed safely in Bangor and later continued to Newark after Kedysheva was removed and turned over to authorities.
The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating.
The FAA has recorded about 1,200 unruly passenger incidents so far in 2026. Passengers who assault airline workers can face fines of more than $43,000 per violation.
The incident came only days after another Newark-bound flight was forced to divert because of an unruly passenger.
Arthur Lundeen, 67, was accused of launching into racist and homophobic slurs and becoming physically aggressive aboard an American Airlines flight from Dallas.
Crew members and passengers eventually restrained him to his seat with duct tape and zip ties before the flight diverted to Baltimore.
Lundeen, an Arizona real estate agent, was later fired by his company following the incident.
