NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A drunk passenger beat up an attendant in a dispute over toilet privileges on a Russian airline flight, police allege, causing an emergency landing in Siberia.
The incident ensued when the flight attendant for the unidentified airline tried to stop the passenger, who was traveling in economy class, from using the business class toilet, RIA Novosti reported Monday.
The 45-year-old passenger was already drunk when he boarded the plane in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, said Siberian transport police spokesman Timur Kurbangaleyev.
"The man was an economy class passenger and tried to use the business class toilet, which is prohibited. He had a spat with a flight attendant and punched him seven or 10 times," Kurbangaleyev said.
The plane, headed for Moscow, made an emergency landing in Novosibirsk, where the flight attendant was hospitalized with a head injury and bruises, police said.
The passenger was detained by Novosibirsk police.
Local media identified him as Andrei Tretyakov, the former regional deputy governor for the Chelyabinsk Region. Police said they could not confirm the passenger was the former official because he told them he was unemployed. A deputy governor with the same name resigned more than a year ago, said a spokesman for the Chelyabinsk Region administration who could not confirm the former official was the detained passenger.
The passenger could face charges of hooliganism. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.
The plane resumed its flight about 2 hours later.
