A woman was sentenced to 24 months of probation in US District Court for Arizona on Tuesday for interfering with flight crew members, a Class C felony offense, aboard an American Airlines plane in 2021. In addition to probation, Leeza S. Rodriguez was ordered by the court to pay $9,123 in restitution to American Airlines Corporate Security as well as a $100 special assessment. The court determined that Rodriguez did not have the ability to pay a fine, and that was waived. As part of her probation, Rodriguez must participate in a substance abuse treatment program as instructed by a probation officer and agree to substance abuse testing. Rodriguez's attorney, Melinda Kovacs, did not have a comment on Tuesday's sentencing. Rodriguez's co-defendant in the incident, Kelly Pichardo, was sentenced in September. The two were traveling in first class on American Airlines flight 776 from Dallas to Los Angeles on February 24, 2021, when the incident occurred. The flight rerouted to Phoenix so that the two could be removed from the plane. An indictment charged that Pichardo and Rodriguez interfered with a flight crew member by assaulting a crew member while the aircraft was in flight. Rodriguez was also charged with assaulting a passenger, according to the indictment. Pichardo was charged with assaulting a different passenger. Both defendants ended up pleading guilty to one count of interfering with a flight crew member. Pichardo was sentenced in September to four months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release. Pichardo was also ordered to pay $9,123 in restitution to American Airlines.<br/>
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Qantas has reclaimed its title of the world's safest airline in this year's rankings, with two Australian carriers featuring in the global top 10. The Flying Kangaroo beat more than 384 carriers across the globe to take back its number one spot, after briefly dropping to seventh place last year in the wake of a serious mishap. The Australian airline has consistently ranked highly in the global list by airline safety and product review website AirlineRatings.com, taking the number one spot from 2014 to 2017, then again from 2019 to 2020. In fact, Qantas has only lost its top spot twice in recent times: once in 2018, when AirlineRatings.com ranked its top 20 equally, then again in 2022, when it fell six places following a safety incident at Perth Airport, involving a near miss between two aircraft during takeoff. According to AirlineRatings.com, Qantas overthrew last year's winner Air New Zealand by the narrowest of margins. Virgin Australia retained its equal 10th place alongside Virgin Atlantic. Story has full list of the top and bottom 20 airlines. AirlineRatings.com editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas praised all 20 airlines for being at the forefront of safety, innovation, and for launching new aircraft. "The safety margins between these top 20 airlines are very small, they are all outstanding airlines," said Thomas. Qantas was singled out by the website for amassing an expansive record of firsts in operations and safety over the course of its 100-year operational history.<br/>