Man, 32, charged for allegedly punching Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant

Rosemarie Bernardo, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
·2 min read

Sep. 25—A 32-year-old man has been charged after he allegedly punched a flight attendant twice in an unprovoked attack on a Hawaiian Airlines flight bound for Hilo Thursday.

Steven Sloan Jr. was charged with one count of assault and one count of interference with flight crew members and attendants.

The alleged unprovoked attack occurred on Flight HA 152 at about 7 :30 a.m. shortly after its departure from the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.

According to an FBI affidavit, the flight attendant was walking down the aisle to collect trash when a male passenger seated in the sixth row aisle seat punched him in the chest.

The passenger, identified as Sloan, then arose from his seat and pulled his right arm back as if he was going to punch him again.

The flight attendant "took a defensive posture and attempted to cover his body and create space from Sloan when he felt a punch to the back left side of his head, near his ear, " the affidavit said. Sloan then sat back down "as if nothing had happened."

The flight diverted back to Honolulu where deputy sheriffs escorted him off the plane and arrested him.

In a memo sent to employees, Hawaiian Airlines President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Ingram said the flight attendant was shaken up but otherwise doing well.

That afternoon, a second unruly passenger incident occurred on a separate Hawaiian Airlines flight to Seattle.

Approximately two hours after Flight HA 22 departed Honolulu, the captain was informed that a female passenger allegedly refused to comply with the federal face mask and "caused a disturbance to other guests, " said Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman Tara Shimooka.

Flight attendants and an off-duty pilot de-escalated the situation. As a precautionary measure, the captain decided to return to Honolulu.

The passenger was escorted off the plane without incident and custody was turned over to federal authorities, according to spokeswoman Toni Schwartz of the Hawaii Public Safety Department.