AP

SEATTLE – A California woman accused of assaulting a crew member on a flight from Sea-Tac Airport to Billings, Mont. has been sentenced in U.S. District Court.

Prosecutors say Krista Bauer, 23, was intoxicated when she grabbed a flight attendant around the head and neck and made statements such as "we must die" and "if anyone is going to die tonight it'll be you."

According to court documents, the incident occurred shortly after takeoff on a Horizon Air flight to Montana on August 25, 2007. Documents say Bauer had left her seat and began walking toward the front of the cabin. When the flight attendant instructed her to return to her seat, Bauer allegedly grabbed her.

Documents allege that other passengers pulled Bauer off the stewardess and restrained her until the plane returned to Sea-Tac. Officers who interviewed Bauer at Sea-Tac said she appeared intoxicated.

Prosecutors say Bauer was on her way to Billings to attend the funeral for her older sister, who had been murdered by her younger sister, and she may have been in a state of post-traumatic stress.

She was arrested in California in November of 2007 on an outstanding warrant and entered an inpatient substance abuse treatment program. After her release in February, she entered a guilty plea.

In Seattle a judge imposed a sentence of time served, plus three years of supervised release in which she must undergo additional substance abuse treatment.