Frontier Airlines Passenger Duct-Taped to Seat After Allegedly Groping Flight Attendants

This weekend, a man was duct-taped to his seat by Frontier Airlines employees after allegedly groping two flight attendants and assaulting another. Footage of the “aggressive” man’s tirade is now going viral on social media. According to a report by The New York Post, 22-year-old Maxwell Berry was taken into custody by police upon landing.

Cell phone footage obtained by WPLG shows Berry being duct-taped to his seat on a Frontier flight from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Miami, Florida, on Saturday. When they arrived at the destination, police reportedly arrested Berry on three counts of battery. Berry is accused of groping two attendants’ breasts and then lashing out at a male attendant who tried to intervene. Another portion of the video seems to show Berry and the male attendant scuffling.

The 22-year-old can be heard screaming profanities from his seat by the window. Among his ravings were claims about his family’s wealth and connections, one clip shows.

According to the arrest report, the issues began when Berry finished his second drink and ordered a third, brushing his cup against a flight attendant’s backside in the process. She asked Berry not to touch her and then spilled his drink onto his shirt. Berry reportedly went to the bathroom and came out shirtless, then paraded around the plane that way for several minutes before pointedly grabbing two female flight attendants.

“He came from behind and put his arm around both of them and groped their breasts again,” the arrest report reads. Berry then tried to fistfight the male flight attendant, at which point he was restrained forcibly with duct tape. It was applied to his mouth to stop him from shouting, at which point other passengers could be heard cheering.

In a statement published by the Post, Frontier Airlines confirmed that a passenger made “inappropriate physical contact” with flight attendants on Saturday. The statement went on: “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.”

Footage of the incident continues to captivate social media this week and prompt fresh discussions about entitlement, rape culture, and substance abuse, among other topics. Berry is a native of Norwalk, Ohio, and was reportedly “calm” by the time the flight landed. So far, it is not clear what has become of him in custody in Miami.