That ol' black magic doesn't fly with airline

Vegas-to-N.Y. flight stops in Denver, passenger arrested

Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 13, 2006 at midnight

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A 50-year-old Russian celebrity is accused of getting violent on a flight from Las Vegas to New York City, slapping a flight attendant in the face, "hexing" the plane, announcing that it would crash and declaring that all the passengers, their children and their grandchildren would die.

The Delta Air Lines pilot made an unscheduled stop early Tuesday just after midnight at Denver International Airport, where passenger Svetlana Yankovsky, a well-known Russian Gypsy singer and dancer, was arrested.

She faces a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew.

One flight attendant told an FBI agent that Yankovsky was drinking from a bottle of wine while the plane was taxiing at the Las Vegas airport, according to court documents.

After the flight attendant took away the bottle, Yankovsky allegedly demanded her "red water" back and began singing, chanting and touching other passengers.

The plane still was climbing after takeoff when two passengers asked flight attendants to "do something" about Yankovsky, court documents said.

But when flight attendants tried to calm Yankovsky down, she told them, "Not good, plane crash, all die," according to an FBI agent's affidavit.

"Yankovsky continued her erratic behavior by 'hexing' the aircraft, the crew and the other passengers," the affidavit said.

"Yankovsky was singing and chanting in the aircraft and saying that everyone was going to die, their children would die and their grandchildren would die," it continued.

The plane's four flight attendants gathered in the rear of the plane to discuss how to handle Yankovsky and considered using restraints and asking other passengers to help subdue the woman.

When flight attendant Sandra McKibben approached Yankovsky and tried to quiet her, Yankovsky slapped her in the face, it said.

"Yankovsky continued her erratic behavior throughout the rest of the flight until removed by Denver police officers," the affidavit said.

Yankovsky was released on bail, according to CBS 4 News. Under the terms of her release, Yankovsky is not allowed to fly on a commercial airline until the matter is resolved. She told the court she was planning to take a bus back to New York, where she lives.

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