Chaos erupted on a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Houston after an unruly passenger repeatedly punched the seat in front of him and cracked an interior window panel.
The man became erratic approximately 20 minutes into the flight on Tuesday.
According to ABC News, the incident started when a woman asked the man behind her to switch seats.
Another passenger on the flight said the man became enraged, started hitting the woman’s seat, and tried to break the window.
“I started having a panic attack,” Victoria Clark told ABC News.
“[I thought] it could be a terrorist attack,” Clark added.
Video footage shows the moment fellow passengers used makeshift restraints to tie down the combative flyer.
WATCH:
A Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Houston turned chaotic Tuesday night when passengers had to restrain a disruptive man who cracked an interior window panel, according to witnesses on board.
Full story: https://t.co/AxP2VOh9ie pic.twitter.com/6MF2zBo8QH
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) February 7, 2025
Per ABC News:
The man continued to hit the window and was eventually able to crack it, passengers said. Without an air marshal on board, flight attendants asked if there was any law enforcement to help, passengers recounted. That’s when Tanner Phillips, a former member of the military, said he stepped in.
“This guy was just going crazy,” Phillips told ABC News. “He was screaming in multiple languages, punching out the window and laying back and trying to kick it out. I wanted to help as much as I could.”
Phillips said he and several others grabbed hold of the man, using zip ties and boot laces to restrain him and put him back in his seat. Instead of making an emergency landing, the flight continued toward its destination of Houston — forcing the group of good Samaritans to ensure the man did not escape for about two hours.
The man’s blood was everywhere around the window and the ceiling of the aircraft, since the Plexiglas cut up his hands, Phillips said.
Crazed Frontier Airlines passenger restrained by fellow travelers with shoelaces, flex cuffs after he cracks plane window https://t.co/G5hJ6KYJzH pic.twitter.com/fKAJvEU6Fx
— New York Post (@nypost) February 7, 2025
“A passenger aboard a Frontier Airlines flight to Houston reportedly shattered part of the plane’s window mid-air during what appears to have been a mental health crisis Tuesday night. To the shock of the complete cabin, the man onboard Frontier Flight 4856 from Denver to Houston started kicking and punching a window and had to be restrained by his fellow passengers,” FL360aero wrote.
“According to police, the man tried to speak with a woman in the row in front of him, but she didn’t respond. Frontier Flight 4856 was traveling from Denver to Houston and landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 11:10 p.m. without any further incident reported,” it added.
A passenger aboard a Frontier Airlines flight to Houston reportedly shattered part of the plane’s window mid-air during what appears to have been a mental health crisis Tuesday night.
To the shock of the complete cabin, the man onboard Frontier Flight 4856 from Denver to Houston… pic.twitter.com/ErhTAKkbbO
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) February 6, 2025
From the New York Post:
The damage to the window did not pose a threat to the safety of the plane as the flight continued its course to Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport.
The passengers sitting next to and in front of the man left their seats to escape the potential threat.
Clark — who was traveling with her 3-year-old — recalled not seeing any of the flight crew nearby.
“The flight attendants, they just disappeared — they went to go ask for help but I don’t know where they went at the time,” Clark recalled from her view directly across the aisle.
“It’s just me and this man and I start freaking out, having a panic attack. Tears, I start screaming for help, ‘Somebody come help us, I’m scared,’” she said.
Chaotic video recorded by Clark captured the heroic passengers — including Clark’s fiancé, who was seated several rows away — stepping up to detain the man.
Six travelers used shoelaces and flex cuffs to secure the man, the outlet reported.
ADVERTISEMENTThe man remained in the makeshift restraints for the flight’s remaining hour and a half.
Police detained the man and escorted him off the plane when the flight landed at Bush Intercontinental Airport at 11:10 p.m.
He was seen being rolled through the airport, restrained to a wheelchair, according to video obtained by KHOU.
Houston police have not released the man’s name or any motive for the midair outburst.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.
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