Flight Attendants Tape Man To Seat On Philly Flight: Reports

PHILADELPHIA — A man flying from Philadelphia to Miami was duct taped to a seat by flight staff after he was accused of assaulting a male flight attendant and inappropriately touching two female flight attendants.

Action News reports that Maxwell Berry, 22, of Ohio was charged in Miami with three counts of battery on July 31. According to The New York Times, Berry had three drinks on the flight and brushed a female flight attendant's backside.

He then spilled a drink on his shirt, went to the bathroom and came out shirtless, the Times reported. Berry walked around the cabin for about 15 minutes before he was alleged to have groped the chests of female flight attendants, the Miami Herald reported.

He is accused of later punching a male flight attendant in the face when the attendant tried to intervene, according to the Herald.

Berry was subsequently duct taped to his seat before police arrested him on the plane, Frontier Airlines said in a statement on the incident.

On Twitter Wednesday, Berry voiced his opinion on the incident.

#frontier #frontierairlines crazy it happened right beside, me it’s crazy out here pic.twitter.com/YdjURlSb5p
— k9spams (@k9spams) August" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/k9spams/st... 3, 2021

The flight attendants were initially suspended for restraining Berry, but after the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union issued a statement decrying Frontier's decision the airline reneged on the suspensions.

"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," Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson said in the statement. "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. We are supporting the crew."

According to a recent member survey done by the union, 85 percent of respondents reported having dealt with at least one unruly passenger so far in 2021; 58 percent reported handling at least five incidents; and 17 percent reported a physical confrontation with a passenger.