TWINS' NICOTINE FIT FORCES PLANE TO BE DIVERTED

22-year-olds Charged In Assault On Crew

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Too many drinks and a smoke break gone bad for
identical twins led to the diversion here Thursday night of a United
Airlines jet on a flight from San Francisco to Shanghai.

Federal prosecutors said Cynthia and Crystal Mikula, 22, of Buckley, Mich.,
downed several drinks, smoked in an aircraft bathroom and struck and spit
on members of the crew as flight attendants attempted to calm them down.

The women were charged with interfering with the performance of a flight
crew, a felony, when United Flight 857 reached Ted Stevens Anchorage
International Airport.

Wearing dark blue jail uniforms and orange sandals, the twins in separate
arraignments asked for court-appointed attorneys and heard they face up to
20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

The women did not appear to be drunk before boarding, FBI Special Agent
Michael Thoreson said in an affidavit. But after the in-flight movie, the
women consumed several drinks and a loud argument ensued.

The women got into an argument outside the bathroom, Thoreson said, and
Cynthia Mikula told her sister, ``I've got to get out of here. Let me off
this airplane; I've got to smoke.''

When a flight attendant tried to intervene, Cynthia Mikula swung and hit
her with an open hand, bloodying the woman's nose.

A male crew member escorted the women to their seats. Cynthia Mikula hit
him, too, Thoreson said. After she hit a third crew member and spit on
another, Thoreson said, crew members put plastic handcuffs on her ankles
and wrists.

At that point, Thoreson said, Crystal Mikula became violent. She struck one
flight attendant and jumped on the back of another, choking him and
scratching his neck.