California Man, 20, Charged in Attack on Flight Attendant en Route to John Wayne Airport

Nov. 1—A 20-year-old Irvine man appeared in court Monday to face federal charges after authorities accused him of punching a flight attendant in the nose last week while flying from New York to Orange County, an attack that rattled other passengers and forced the pilot to divert the plane to Denver.

Brian Hsu was arrested at an Irvine home Monday morning, and later appeared in federal court in Santa Ana, where a magistrate judge ordered him to report to Colorado later this month to face two charges related to the alleged assault, including one that accuses him of interfering with American Airlines flight 976 on Wednesday, Oct. 27.

Passengers on the flight en route to John Wayne Airport said Hsu punched an attendant twice in the face, leaving her face mask bloodied. Videos showed Hsu being taken away in handcuffs after the flight was forced to land, but he was later released.

A U.S. marshal brought Hsu into the courtroom Monday. Sporting short hair and wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and athletic pants, Hsu was handcuffed and chained at his ankles.

Before the hearing, he spoke quietly with a federal public defender, stealing glances at the courtroom gallery.

Magistrate Judge Autumn Speith placed Hsu on an unsecured $10,000 bond that would allow him to be released again once it's paid. Speith ordered Hsu not to travel outside California's Central District, except when he travels to Colorado to appear in a Denver courtroom on Nov. 15. He can also travel to New York beginning in September to attend college, and Rhode Island for medical appointments with a doctor there.

He was to surrender his passports and other travel documents. His public defender said Hsu's mother was in the courthouse and would turn in those documents that same day.

"Of course," Hsu said, when Speith asked him if he would follow the terms of his release."

According to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday, witnesses told FBI agents that Hsu was standing next to an airplane bathroom when the flight attendant asked him to step away. That's when Hsu punched her in the face — one witness said he hit her hard enough that she slammed into the bathroom door. Another said he saw Hsu take a "full swing" at her.

"I have a fractured nose," the flight attendant said immediately after being hit, one witness said according to the indictment.

Another flight attendant approached Hsu after the punch, telling him to return to his seat. After initially refusing, Hsu eventually sat down — that's when other passengers duct-taped him to the seat and restrained him with plastic bonds.

In an interview at the Denver airport, Hsu told the FBI that he was coming home from Rhode Island after having brain surgery.

He said he sustained an injury in Fall 2020 "when he was assaulted in New York City." Hsu told the agent that after that attack he was left with "psychological damage," and that "he is now sensitive to sound and sometimes experiences a mental 'fog,' during which thinking is difficult."

"Hsu said his parents think he acts differently than he used to," the FBI agent wrote.

In his statements to the FBI, Hsu claimed he was standing up near the bathroom and stretching when "he accidentally bumped the Victim flight attendant." He claimed the attendant "became agitated and began swinging at HSU's head." Hsu said that made him back up and put his hands up to defend himself — after that he claimed the flight attendant "charged at him and hit her nose against the palm of his right hand."

Hsu mother also was on the flight and gave a statement to the FBI. She also said Hsu had recently had brain surgery, and since then had shown "symptoms of dizziness" and "seems to become more easily angered." She said Hsu has been "afraid of people touching his head."

"After his most recent surgery in Rhode Island, HSU had trouble sitting still and frequently felt the need to stretch," the FBI agent wrote of Hsu's mother's statements.

On Instagram last week, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker called the incident "one of the worst displays of unruly behavior we've ever witnessed."

Parker said Hsu would be banned from American Airlines flights. And he said the company was "doing everything we can to ensure he is prosecuted to the fullest extent possible."

Violent behavior by passengers on flights has been on the rise this year: The Federal Aviation Administration said they received 4,941 reports of unruly passengers through October. The previous high was 310 in 1995.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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