Military veteran sentenced to six months in prison for punching Delta Air flight attendant during transatlantic flight because he was cut off from alcohol

Lina PortmanJune 4, 2024

7 2 minutes read

A military veteran who suffered from alcohol addiction since the death of his father was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to hitting and shoving a Delta Air Lines flight attendant on a Tel Aviv-New flight York JFK last May.

Shachar Bivas, 44, of Long Island, was also fined $9,500 for interfering with the duties of a flight crew member during a 12-hour flight from Israel and will have to surrender to authorities on August 2 to serve his prison sentence.

The mid-flight brawl began after one of the flight attendants refused to serve Bivas a second vodka drink because he was already visibly drunk. The move, however, infuriated Bivas, according to prosecutors.

Bivas approached another flight attendant and asked for an alcoholic drink and a cigarette. The crew member told Bivas that smoking was prohibited on board and, rather than serving him more alcohol, the flight attendant offered Bivas a coffee to help sober him up.

Bivas hit the galley after being refused a drink, but flight attendants initially managed to calm him down and get him to return to his seat. However, some time later, Bivas approached a flight attendant and “grabbed, pushed and forcibly punched” the crew member, tearing his uniform and injuring his arm.

Another flight attendant intervened and helped restrain Bivas while one of the pilots exited the cockpit to assess and manage the situation.

To make matters worse, half the crew was on break at the time Bivas ran amok, but the pilots declined the flight attendants' request to perform an emergency diversion so Bivas could be unloaded.

The flight continued to New York JFK, where it landed safely, and Bivas was taken into custody. Bivas was charged last August and pleaded guilty in December. His sentence was pronounced Thursday.