PHILADELPHIA — Frontier Airlines is now expressing full support of the crew that duct-taped an Ohio man to his seat on a flight from Philadelphia to Miami late Saturday night. Police say the passenger groped two flight attendants and punched another.
The flight attendants had been placed on leave per airline protocol, but Frontier is now saying the crew involved will not lose out on any paychecks, and that the incident is still under investigation.
Another passenger captured some of the kerfuffle on cell phone video.
Frontier passenger allegedly touched 2 flight attendants breasts, then screamed his parents are worth $2 million, before punching a flight attendant. Frontier suspended the crew for duct taping the passenger to his seat as they landed in Miami. 22 yr old Max Berry is in custody. pic.twitter.com/4xS9Rwvafx
— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) August 3, 2021
Police say drunk 22-year-old Maxwell Barry of Norwalk, Ohio, is charged with three counts of battery.
They say Barry got two drinks on the plane then walked around shirtless after spilling a third drink on himself. They say he argued with passengers and cursed out loud, groped two female flight attendants, and punched a male flight attendant who tried to calm him.
Cell phone video that went viral shows the crew and some passengers subduing Barry with a seat belt extender and duct tape to keep him in his seat for the rest of the trip.
Upon landing, Miami Dade police arrested Barry.
There has been a jump in complaints about unruly air passengers. The FAA says it has received about 3,700 of these complaints this year. The vast majority involve people who refuse to wear masks.
This latest may be an extreme example, but it is not the first involviong duct tape. Nearly a month ago, an American Airlines crew used the stuff to restrain a woman who they say tried to open a door mid-flight.
