A flight from the US to Europe had to turn back after a passenger's midair fork attack

• A Lufthansa flight had to turn back after a passenger allegedly attacked people with a metal fork. • The man is charged with assault and faces up to a decade in prison and a $250,000 fine. • Unruly passenger incidents have fallen in recent years, but still occur twice as often as pre-COVID.

A passenger allegedly stabbed two teenagers with a metal fork during a Lufthansa flight on Saturday from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany — an incident that forced the aircraft to return to the US.

The US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, part of the Justice Department, said that Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli, a 28-year-old Indian national, attacked two 17-year-old passengers after the meal service. Lufthansa is Germany's flag carrier.

When the crew moved to subdue him, the US Attor