Artist in US jail over drunken air rage

London: In Britain, she is known as a respected artist, actress and author who mixes with the rich and famous at London society and charity events.

In America, however, Galina Rusanova, has found unwanted notoriety for mixing wine and prescription drugs before allegedly drinking liquid hand soap and attacking flight attendants on a transatlantic plane.

She has spent the weekend in a Maine jail after being arrested last week. She is said to have begun "snapping like a dog" and tried to bite the leg of a crew member on the flight, according to court documents.

Rusanova, 54, who lives in London, has been charged with interference with flight crew and assault after the plane on which she was a passenger was diverted to Bangor in Maine during a flight from Los Angeles to London.

She was arrested the next morning after spending the night at Eastern Maine Medical Centre for observation, according to court documents.

"It's typical of me. I sometimes do crazy things," she is said to have told FBI agents. In addition to hitting, kicking and punching flight attendants who tried to control her, Rusanova fell to the floor where she tried to bite a crew member, the court documents claim.

In an interview with FBI agents after her arrest on Thursday morning, Rusanova allegedly said she had travelled to California to meet a man she met over the internet.

She also told investigators that, because she was afraid to fly, she took prescription pills and wine to calm herself. She said she remembered going on about the seating and the quality of the wine, but little else of the flight. Rusanova did not enter a plea on Friday.

A bail hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, but it is likely she will be held without bail until her case is resolved.