A passenger on board a Transaero flight from Moscow to Miami last week faces up to 20 years in prison after he allegedly assaulted flight attendants as well as fellow passengers, according to USA Today.
Pavel Nesvat needed to be restrained by flight attendants after the alleged attack where he "inappropriately" touched a female passenger, then approached the cockpit in a way that frightened the flight crew, who had to physically restrain him, according to the Miami Herald.
A federal air marshal, Special Agent Joel Beck, riding on board a Boeing 747 on August 2, filed a criminal complaint. Beck works for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) where he's assigned to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
It's unclear where Nesvat lives, though he has dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, according to the report filed by Beck and reported by the Miami Herald.
The report states that he began throwing ice cream containers at other passengers approximately five hours into the flight. After a flight attendant told him to stop, he sat down, but he then groped the woman sitting next to him, and then began harassing the flight attendants by "physically assaulting them and pulling their ears."
The report continues, alleging that Nesvat put on his backpack and began walking towards the cockpit, where a flight attendant stopped him. He then continued, "battling" with flight attendants, some of whom feared "serious injury."
Law enforcement officers met the plane at Miami airport at the request of the flight's captain, where Nesvat was arrested on charges of interfering with a flight crew.
U.S. District Court Judge William Turnoff set Nesvat's bond at $200,000. His arraignment is scheduled for August 15. Filipe Jaramillo, Nesvat's attorney, referred any questions to his boss, Jason Kriess, who didn't return a phone call from the Miami Herald.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
