Passenger Arrives Taped to a Seat and Is Charged With Assaulting Flight Attendants

In their complaint, officers said that several other passengers had helped to restrain Mr. Berry, whom the video showed being secured to a seat by a male crew member with what appeared to be packing tape. A seatbelt extender was also used as a restraint, the police said. Some other passengers laughed and pulled out their cellphone cameras to record the scene.

“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 Denver-based carrier 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.”

But the flight attendants union criticized the airline’s response.

“Management suspended the crew as a knee-jerk reaction to a short video clip that did not show the full incident,” said Ms. Nelson, the union’s president. “Management should be supporting the crew at this time, not suspending them.”

Frontier did not answer questions about the airline’s policies and procedures for restraining unruly passengers, including whether tape had been approved for that purpose.

In the criminal complaint, the arresting officers said that they had referred the matter to the F.B.I., but that it had declined to pursue federal felony charges against Mr. Berry.

Mr. Berry’s legal problems may be just beginning, though.

The F.A.A. has fined several passengers tens of thousands of dollars this year for clashing with airline crews over mask requirements and other safety instructions. Earlier this year, the agency imposed a zero-tolerance policy for interfering with or assaulting flight attendants that carries a fine of up to $35,000 and possible jail time.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/business/max-berry-frontier-airlines-flight-attendant-assault.html