Detroit — Federal prosecutors Friday charged a man accused of assaulting a flight attendant on a Paris-bound flight and vomiting aboard the aircraft.

Ian Robert James Morin, 21, of Carmel, Indiana, was charged one day after Delta Air Lines Flight 500 from Indianapolis was diverted to Detroit Metropolitan Airport following a disturbance.

He was charged in federal court in Detroit with interfering with flight crew members and attendants, a federal crime that could send him to prison for up to 20 years. He was released on $10,000 unsecured bond Friday.

The incident disrupted the flight and forced passengers to stay in Detroit, delaying their trip to Paris for about 12 hours.

Morin boarded the 6 p.m. Thursday flight and 40 minutes later started yelling and acting erratically, according to the federal court complaint.

Crew members tried to calm Morin but he continued to yell and scream and failed to comply with commands, according to a special agent assigned to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

"Morin hit one of the flight attendants with an open hand to the left side of her throat near her carotid artery," the FBI special agent wrote. "Morin continued to yell and attempted to hit the flight attendant again. During the altercation, Morin threw up on the aircraft."

Crew members and passengers restrained Morin, who was handcuffed while the flight was diverted to Detroit.

The plane landed at 8:08 p.m. and Morin was taken into custody. Passengers were removed from the plane, which had to be sanitized after the incident.

rsnell@detroitnews.com

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