Russian detained after beating flight attendant over toilet dispute

An allegedly drunk passenger beat up an attendant during a Russian airline flight, causing the plane to make an emergency landing in Siberia, police say. The incident ensued when the flight attendant tried to stop the passenger, who was traveling in economy class, from using the business class toilet, RIA Novosti reported Monday. The 45-year-old passenger was already drunk when he boarded the plane in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, said Siberian transport police spokesman Timur Kurbangaleyev. The plane, headed for Moscow, made an emergency landing in Novosibirsk, where the flight attendant was hospitalized with a head injury and bruises, police said. The passenger was detained by Novosibirsk police. Local media identified him as Andrei Tretyakov, the former regional deputy governor for the Chelyabinsk Region. Police said they could not confirm the passenger was the former official because he told them he was unemployed. A deputy governor with the same name resigned more than a year ago, said a spokesman for the Chelyabinsk Region administration who could not confirm the former official was the detained passenger. The passenger could face charges of hooliganism. If convicted of the charge, he could face up to five years in prison. The plane resumed its flight about two hours later.