Passenger Charged After Stabbing Teens on Lufthansa Flight

On Oct. 25, 2025, a Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was diverted to Boston Logan International Airport after 28-year-old Indian national Praneeth Kumar Usiripalli allegedly stabbed two 17-year-old male passengers with a metal fork following meal service, causing a clavicle wound and a head laceration. Crew and passengers intervened after he reportedly fashioned a finger-gun, put it in his mouth and pulled an imaginary trigger, slapped a female passenger and attempted to strike a flight attendant. Usiripalli was arrested at Boston Logan and federally charged in U.S. District Court with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon with intent to do bodily harm while traveling on an aircraft. Prosecutors say he entered the U.S. on an F-1 student visa, had been enrolled in a master’s program in biblical studies, and currently lacks lawful immigration status. If convicted he faces up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and fines up to $250,000. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts released charging documents and is prosecuting the case, and a federal court appearance is pending.