Woman tries to open Alaska Airlines cabin doors, then bites flight attendant, feds say

A 24-year-old woman was sentenced after federal authorities said she bit a flight attendant on board an Alaska Airlines flight.

In 2023, Aliyah Robyn Stalder was on board an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Phoenix when she tried to open cabin doors, according to court documents and a Jan. 30 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

That’s when crew members tried to restrain her, and she bit one attendant on the hand, authorities said.

The flight attendant had to receive medical attention and suffered a puncture wound and soft tissue swelling before being given antibiotics and a tetanus shot, prosecutors said.

In November, Stalder pleaded guilty to assault by striking, beating or wounding on an aircraft, according to authorities.

Stalder was sentenced to three years of probation, prosecutors said.

As part of her probation, she is not able to fly a commercial aircraft without approval and she must pay a $5,000 penalty as well as $8,000 in restitution, officials said.