Man Who Attacked Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant and Sprayed Passengers With Blood After Overdosing Swerves Jail Sentence

A man on an Alaska Airlines flight who is suspected of overdosing on drugs who went on to attack a flight attendant and spray passengers and crew with blood as an off-duty nurse tried to administer a life-saving dose of Narcan has swerved a further jail sentence after pleading guilty to assault.

Christian David Burch, 38, of Minnesota, pleaded guilty to interference with flight crew members following the horrific mid-flight incident in June 2023, and he has been held in several jails for violating pre-trial release and parole conditions.

Burch had boarded Alaska Airlines flight AS183 from Minneapolis to Anchorage on June 25, 2023, despite the fact he was banned from leaving the state of Minnesota as a condition of his parole.

During the five-hour flight to Alaska, Burch went to the lavatory, where he is suspected of overdosing on a powerful opioid such as Fentanyl. Flight attendants heard a scream from inside the lavatory, and when Burch came out, he had drool and foam coming out of his mouth.

After walking haphazardly towards the First Class section, Burch suddenly collapsed in a suspected medical emergency. An off-duty registered nurse went to assist and asked for Narcan from the onboard medical kit – a life-saving drug that can quickly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

Narcan is administered via a nasal spray, but as soon as the nurse inserted the spray into Burch’s nurse, he started to resist violently and grabbed a flight attendant near her throat.

During the struggle, the Narcan caused Burch’s nose to bleed, and as he flailed around, several crew members and passengers were sprayed with his blood as they helped to hold him down.

When questioned by law enforcement, Burch denied taking opioids and said he had suffered vertigo while in the lavatory. He was arrested once the plane had landed and initially held in state custody for six days.

Once back in Minnesota, Burch was once again arrested and held in jail for 72 days for violating state parole. He was then further arrested in March 2024 and held in federal jail for breaching the conditions of his pretrial release.

Burch has, however, escaped a further prison sentence and has, instead, been sentenced to five years’ probation. The maximum punishment Burch had failed was 20 years imprisonment.