Drunken, violent passenger duct taped to his seat after groping and assaulting flight attendants
On July 31, a 22-year-old passenger on a Frontier Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Miami had too much to drink, got loud, went shirtless, yelled that his parents were millionaires, grabbed the breasts of two flight attendants, and assaulted a third flight attendant as an all-out brawl ensued on the plane. With help from other passengers, the unruly and violent passenger identified as Maxwell Berry of Norwalk, Ohio, was restrained and duct taped to his seat for the remainder of the flight, according to ABC 13 News.
Maxwell Wilkinson Berry, 22, was caught on camera shouting at the flight crew and other passengers. “My parents are worth more than f****** 2 million goddamn dollars!” Berry shouted. He continued to cry out, hollering at everyone within earshot, and declared that his grandfather is an attorney. ~ NPR
Reportedly, Berry consumed two alcoholic beverages and ordered a third which he ended up spilling on his shirt. He went to the lavatory and came out shirtless. A flight attendant helped him get a clean shirt out of his carry-on luggage.
After walking around for 15 minutes, the [police] report said, Berry then groped the chests of female flight attendants.
Police said he then punched a male flight attendant in the face who had been called over to watch him.
A fight ensued and passengers restrained Berry, the report said. ~ ABC 13 News
Following his assault on the male flight attendant, Berry was duct taped to his seat and remained like that until the flight landed in Miami, where police from Miami-Dade handcuffed and arrested him and charged him with three counts of misdemeanor battery. Police then transported Berry to the Miami-Dade County Jail – TGK Correctional Center.
Frontier Airlines released the following statement:
“During a flight from Philadelphia to Miami on July 31, a passenger made inappropriate physical contact with a flight attendant and subsequently physically assaulted another flight attendant. As a result, the passenger needed to be restrained until the flight landed in Miami and law enforcement arrived. The flight attendants will be, as required in such circumstances, relieved of flying pending completion of investigation of the events.”
According to NBC News, the flight attendants are on paid leave.
“Frontier Airlines maintains the utmost value, respect, concern and support for all of our flight attendants, including those who were assaulted on this flight,” the spokesperson said. “We are supporting the needs of these team members and are working with law enforcement to fully support the prosecution of the passenger involved.”
Following his release from jail, Berry said that he was “treated like livestock” and posted the following to social media: “This will forever be the most dehumanizing experience in my entire life. Many people laughed and ridiculed me as I was mistreated by staff of a PROFESSIONAL airline.”
NPR went on to share additional statements from the airline, including, “Flight Attendants have faced an onslaught of disruptions on our flights this year. The situation on Frontier this weekend is one of the worst examples,” the statement read. “A drunk and irate passenger verbally, physically, and sexually assaulted multiple members of the crew. When he refused to comply after multiple attempts to de-escalate, the crew was forced to restrain the passenger with the tools available to them onboard.”
For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
