Sacramento-area woman sentenced for punching Southwest attendant on San Diego flight
A Sacramento County woman on Friday was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for punching a Southwest Airlines flight attendant after she was told to fasten her seat belt, stow her tray table and wear her face mask properly, prosecutors said.
Vyvianna M. Quinonez, 29, of Antelope also was sentenced to serve three years of parole after she’s released from prison, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.
In December, Quinonez pleaded guilty to a charge of interfering with a Southwest Airlines flight attendant. Her conviction was the result of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Initially, Quinonez was charged in federal court with one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of interfering with a flight crew, both felonies.
As part of her sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Todd W. Robinson ordered Quinonez to pay nearly $26,000 in restitution and a $7,500 fine, federal prosecutors said.
The assault occurred May 23, 2021, on Southwest Airlines Flight 700 from Sacramento International Airport to San Diego International Airport, according to the charging document.
As the flight was on its final descent, Quinonez was not wearing her face mask properly, unbuckled her seat belt and pulled down her tray table, which were all violations of federal rules and regulations, prosecutors said of Quinonez’s admissions in her plea agreement.
The flight attendant asked Quinonez to fasten her seat belt, stow her tray table and wear her face mask properly, prosecutors said. Quinonez instead began recording the flight attendant on her cellphone. Quinonez admitted she then pushed the flight attendant, before another passenger began recording the confrontation on her cellphone, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors have said Quinonez admitted that she stood up and assaulted the flight attendant by punching her in the face and head with a closed fist and grabbing her hair. Several other passengers tried to stop Quinonez by grabbing at her clothes and arms; a male passenger sitting nearby jumped in between Quinonez and the flight attendant, and he instructed Quinonez to sit down.
The Southwest flight attendant suffered several injuries in the assault and was taken to the hospital, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The flight attendant had three teeth that were chipped and two of the teeth were later replaced by crowns. Prosecutors said her left eye was bruised and swollen, she suffered a cut under her left eye that required three stitches and she had a bruise in the shape of fingers on her right forearm.
After the assault, the flight’s captain delayed taxiing the plane to the gate to wait for law enforcement officers to respond.
“Violence on aircraft endangers the lives of all onboard,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Randy Grossman said in the news release. “Attacks on flight crew members, who perform vital jobs to ensure passenger safety, will not be tolerated. We will pursue criminal charges against those who violate the law both at the airport and aboard aircraft while in flight.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2022 at 7:30 PM.
