A woman travelling first-class on an American Airlines’ flight has been jailed for four months after getting into a mid-air fight with another passenger.

The judge said her behaviour, which forced the flight to divert, was ‘unruly and intimidating’.

Kelly Pichardo, aged 32, will also have to pay American Airlines damages of more than $9,000 and undergo 36 months of supervised release.

She had pleaded guilty to interference with flight crew members during the flight from Dallas to Los Angeles in February 2021.

Her co-defendant Leeza S Rodriguez will be sentenced in November.

Phoenix police told the Arizona Republic, that the two women had got into a fight with a male passenger who asked them to stop using a racial slur.

One of the women had spat at the passenger, who started recording the fight on his phone. Rodriguez allegedly hit his hand to stop him.

During the fight, the pilot diverted to Phoenix so the two women could be removed from the plane.