By Yereth Rosen
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug 21 (Reuters) – A woman who screamed
profanities and disobeyed crew orders on a Detroit-to-Shanghai
flight, causing the pilot to divert to Anchorage, Alaska, was
charged on Tuesday with interfering with flight crew members and
attendants.
The Sunday flight, operated by Delta Air Lines Inc,
stopped in Alaska’s biggest city, where officers arrested
Stephanie Heizman Auerbach, a Shanghai-based designer and owner
of an apparel and fashion company, according to court documents.
An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage said
Auerbach’s disruptive behavior began 60 to 90 minutes into the
flight, when she began talking loudly, making gestures, walking
up and down the aisle and climbing over seats.
She “screamed profanities” at flight attendants and five
times refused to heed instructions to return to her assigned
seat, according to the affidavit, filed by Federal Bureau of
Investigation Special Agent Benjamin Hallowell.
Flight attendants had served her five glasses of white wine,
and passengers said she took additional alcoholic beverages from
the galley without the knowledge of flight crew members,
according to the affidavit.
The plane’s captain “determined that it was not safe to
continue the flight” with Auerbach aboard and diverted to
Anchorage, the affidavit said.
Two children traveling with Auerbach were allowed to remain
on the flight because they were being met in Shanghai by their
father, according to the affidavit.
Auerbach’s LinkedIn profile describes her as a designer and
owner of an apparel and fashion company in Shanghai, Stephanie &
Co.
Auerbach remained in custody late Tuesday at Anchorage’s
Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, a spokeswoman said. She
surrendered her passport on Tuesday, according to court records.
Her Anchorage attorney was not immediately available for
comment late Tuesday.
