Latest news with #Flight4856
Observer
10-02-2025
- Observer
Passengers restrain a man who bashed a flight window
Chaos erupted aboard a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Houston this past week when a man started bashing a window and several seats around him, prompting other passengers to subdue him with shoelaces and zip ties until the plane landed. The struggle, captured on videos and photos taken by passengers, began about 40 minutes into Flight 4856 on Tuesday night. The plane had reached its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet when the man broke the window's inner pane and its plastic frame, a case of air rage that an FBI spokesperson confirmed Saturday was being investigated by the bureau. So far, the man, whose name was not released by authorities, has not been charged with a crime. It was not clear what led to his outburst. The flight did not have an air marshal, prompting the crew to ask if anyone aboard had experience in law enforcement or the military, according to passengers on the flight. Tanner Phillips, 34, an Army veteran who is 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, said Saturday that he was sitting about 20 rows away from the man. 'The first thing I heard was other people yelling for security,' Phillips said. He said his instincts kicked in quickly after the flight attendants asked for passengers for help over the plane's intercom. 'I don't know if it's a terrorist attack,' he said. 'You could hear them kind of panicky. If he breaks that outer pane, then we're all in trouble.' He said that another passenger gave him laces from his boots, and that he tied the man's wrists. 'Everyone on the plane came together so quickly and so efficiently,' said Phillips, who lives in San Diego and is originally from Texas. After he learned that the man was not initially charged, Phillips said that he sent Frontier Airlines an email to express his frustration and received a response that he described as apologetic but 'blasé.' 'Sorry, about your feelings, bud,' he said, describing the airline's response. 'I was like, are you kidding me right now?' Eric Starcevic, a heating and air conditioning technician from Katy, Texas, said Saturday that he did not have any special training but could not just sit by and watch. He was returning with his wife and their 13-year-old daughter from a ski trip in Colorado. The family was sitting about 10 to 15 rows away from the man. 'I heard the commotion going on, him kicking stuff,' Starcevic said. 'Then, the next thing you know, he tries to punch out the window.' Starcevic said the unruly passenger appeared to have cut his hands punching the window, which appeared to have a crack on an inner pane. In a photo taken by Starcevic, blood can be seen on the window shade and the wall next to the man's seat. Starcevic, 45, who said he and about four other men rushed to intervene, described a frantic search for anything that passengers could use to tie up the man's hands and legs. Starcevic said he and the other men took turns for the rest of the 2 hour, 16 minute flight holding the man down and guarding him until they reached George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Victor Senties, a spokesperson for the Houston Police Department, said Saturday that Frontier Airlines had declined to press charges at the time against the man. Jennifer F. de la Cruz, a spokesperson for Frontier, wrote in an email Saturday that the FBI was investigating. Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the bureau's Houston field office, said the FBI was working closely with Frontier and the Houston Police Department as part of the investigation. He noted that the FBI has primary jurisdiction over investigating crimes that take place aboard aircraft. The episode adds to a list of high-profile examples of air rage. In 2021, a Frontier Airlines passenger assaulted three flight attendants, punching one and groping the breasts of two others, on a flight from Philadelphia to Miami, prompting one crew member to tape him to his seat until the plane landed. In 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration said that it had received 2,102 reports of unruly passengers from the airlines, a 1% increase from 2023. While the volume has leveled off from its height during the coronavirus pandemic, when the FAA developed a zero-tolerance policy for unruly airline passengers, the agency said that the recent uptick shows that it continues to be a problem. This article originally appeared in
New York Times
08-02-2025
- New York Times
Passengers Restrain Man Who Bashed a Window on a Flight
Chaos erupted aboard a Frontier Airlines flight from Denver to Houston this week when a man started bashing a window and several seats around him, prompting other passengers to subdue him with shoelaces and zip ties until the plane landed. The struggle, captured on videos and photos taken by passengers, began about 40 minutes into Flight 4856 on Tuesday night. The plane had reached its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet when the man broke the window's inner pane and its plastic frame, a case of air rage that an F.B.I. spokesman confirmed on Saturday was being investigated by the bureau. So far, the man, whose name was not released by the authorities, has not been charged with a crime. It was not clear what led to his outburst. The flight did not have an air marshal, prompting the crew to ask if anyone aboard had experience in law enforcement or the military, according to passengers on the flight. Eric Starcevic, a heating and air-conditioning technician from Katy, Texas, said on Saturday that he did not have any special training but could not just sit by and watch. He was returning with his wife and their 13-year-old daughter from a ski trip in Colorado. The family was sitting about 10 to 15 rows away from the man. 'I heard the commotion going on, him kicking stuff,' Mr. Starcevic said. 'Then, the next thing you know, he tries to punch out the window.' Mr. Starcevic said the unruly passenger appeared to have cut his hands punching the window, which appeared to have a crack on an inner pane. In a photo taken by Mr. Starcevic, blood can be seen on the window shade and the wall next to the man's seat. Mr. Starcevic, 45, who said he and about four other men rushed to intervene, described a frantic search for anything that they could use to tie up the man's hands and legs. 'He's trying to kill us all,' Mr. Starcevic said he recalled thinking. 'Someone was just kind of kneeling on him.' His wife, Jessica, said she stayed in her seat with their daughter. 'Even somebody offered my husband their headphones to try to tie him up with,' she said. Mr. Starcevic said he and the other men took turns for the rest of the two-hour-and-16-minute flight holding the man down and guarding him until they reached George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, where the flight was met by police officers after what Mr. Starcevic described as a delay. 'It really felt like it was an eternity,' Jessica Starcevic said, adding that the announcements from the pilot were rather routine, telling passengers to fasten their seatbelts in anticipation of turbulence. As of Saturday, the couple said that they had not heard from the airline. Victor Senties, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, said on Saturday that Frontier Airlines had declined to press charges at the time against the man. Jennifer F. de la Cruz, a spokeswoman for Frontier, wrote in an email on Saturday that the F.B.I. was investigating. Connor Hagan, a spokesman for the bureau's Houston field office, said that the F.B.I. was working closely with Frontier and the Houston Police Department as part of the investigation. He noted that the F.B.I. has primary jurisdiction over investigating crimes that take place aboard aircraft. The episode adds to a list of high-profile examples of air rage. In 2021, a Frontier Airlines passenger assaulted three flight attendants, punching one and groping the breasts of two others, on a flight from Philadelphia to Miami, prompting one crew member to tape him to his seat until the plane landed. In 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration said that it had received 2,102 reports of unruly passengers from the airlines, a 1 percent increase from 2023. While the volume has leveled off from its height during the coronavirus pandemic, when the F.A.A. developed a zero-tolerance policy for unruly airline passengers, the agency said that the recent uptick shows that it continues to be a problem.
Fox News
07-02-2025
- Fox News
Video shows Frontier passenger tackled after allegedly banging window mid-flight
A group of Frontier Airlines passengers rushed into action during a midair flight earlier this week to tackle and then restrain a raging fellow passenger, who had allegedly gone berserk and started banging the aircraft's window. The caught-on-camera midair scare took place on Tuesday night as Frontier Flight 4856 was traveling from Denver to Houston, according to Fox 26 Houston, citing Flight Aware data. The man tried to speak with a woman in the row in front of him, but she didn't respond, the outlet reported, citing police. That's when he snapped and began punching the seat in front of him and the plane window. Video from the incident shows a number of male passengers holding him down in an attempt to restrain him. One man can be seen leaning over a seat and pushing the unruly passenger's head toward the floor. Another man then appears to tie the disruptive passenger's hands behind his back with a belt. Passengers told Fox 26 that the man was screaming in Spanish, telling people not to touch him. The plane landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport about 20 minutes after the man was restrained, at around 11:10 p.m., the Houston Police Department (HPD) told Fox News Digital. Footage from the incident shows a cracked window near where the man was sitting. He was reportedly calm for the rest of the flight, and then HPD said they questioned him after the flight touched down safely. "It was absolutely chaotic," passenger Jessica Brown told the outlet. "The most terrifying thing I've ever been through. We turned around, and we saw this guy just punching out the window, and immediately we screamed for help.' Chloe Starcevic, 13, said she was "absolutely terrified." "My anxiety was really bad. Me and my mom were shaking the whole time, and we were praying the whole time. I didn't know what was going to happen. It was really scary," she told Fox 26. Frontier Airlines said it is deferring all media inquiries about the incident to the HPD. HPD said Frontier Airlines is not pursuing charges, so the man was not detained. A HPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the FBI is conducting a follow-up investigation and noted that the incident had taken place in Denver airspace. The incident comes amid heightened safety concerns about flying among Americans. Last Friday, a medevac jet crashed moments after take-off in Philadelphia, killing all six people on board as well as a man who was on the ground in a car. At least 22 people on the ground were injured. Days earlier, an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet in midair near Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, killing 60 passengers and four crew members onboard the passenger jet, while three soldiers were inside the helicopter. A search is currently underway for a small aircraft in Alaska that disappeared Thursday in Alaska.
