Passenger Stabs Two Teens on Lufthansa Flight

A Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was diverted to Boston Logan International Airport after 28-year-old Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli allegedly stabbed two 17-year-old passengers with a metal fork and assaulted others while airborne. According to charging documents, Usiripalli stood over a sleeping teen following meal service and stabbed him in the left clavicle/shoulder, then lunged at a second 17-year-old and struck him in the back of the head, causing a laceration. When crew intervened he reportedly formed a finger gun, put it in his mouth and pretended to pull the trigger, then slapped a female passenger and attempted to strike a flight attendant. The plane made an emergency landing at Boston Logan, where Usiripalli was taken into custody and federally charged with assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm while traveling on an aircraft. Prosecutors say he was admitted to the U.S. on an F-1 student visa and enrolled in a master’s program in biblical studies but presently lacks lawful status; if convicted he faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and fines up to $250,000.