LOS ANGELES -- Paris Hilton's youngest brother, Conrad, agreed to plead guilty to assaulting flight attendants on a trip from London to Los Angeles last year when authorities say he called other passengers "peasants" and threatened to kill crew members.

Hilton, 20, signed the agreement Tuesday and is set to appear in court Thursday but will officially plead guilty to the misdemeanour later, the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles said.

The offence carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail, a year of probation and a $5,000 fine, but under the deal prosecutors said they would ask a judge to give Hilton only probation.

Hilton's attorney, Robert Shapiro, did not immediately reply to an after-hours phone message seeking comment. But Shapiro said previously that Hilton's behaviour may have been "the effects of a sleeping pill" or some similar circumstance.

According to an FBI affidavit, Hilton acknowledged calling other passengers "peasants" and said he would have killed one flight attendant if another passenger had not calmed him down during the 10-hour flight July 31.

Hilton ignored instructions to keep his seat belt fastened and began pacing the aisle as the aircraft took off, the document said.

When told to sit, he launched into a series of tirades that had some children in tears. He threatened to kill several flight attendants and a co-pilot and get them fired, the affidavit said.

"I could get you all fired in five minutes. I know your boss," Hilton said in one of the document's few quotes that didn't include an expletive.

Hilton said he was angry over the breakup with a girlfriend and wanted to smoke marijuana. At one point, he went to a lower deck restroom and the odour of marijuana wafted out, the affidavit said.

Hilton threw a punch inches from a flight attendant's head that struck the bulkhead, the affidavit said. Although the attendant said he felt threatened, he said, "I don't believe he intentionally wanted to hurt me."