Frontier passenger charged after choking crew member, diverting Chicago flight

A 51-year-old passenger faces federal charges after a Frontier Airlines flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Chicago was forced to divert to Miami when he attacked an off-duty flight attendant and attempted to open an emergency exit door, the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office said.

The incident aboard Flight 3345 on Sunday is one of 687 unruly passenger reports the Federal Aviation Administration has received so far this year, as federal authorities contend with a persistent rise in in-flight disruptions.

Reyes became disruptive roughly 45 minutes after the flight departed San Juan on Sunday, CNN reported. He attempted to open an emergency exit door, then shoved the cockpit door repeatedly before crew escorted him to a restroom.

After leaving the restroom, Reyes allegedly grabbed for a bag belonging to an off-duty flight attendant and, when confronted, climbed on top of the attendant and began choking him, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office. Passengers and crew subdued Reyes using flex cuffs and seatbelt extenders, though he broke free of the restraints several times. The plane landed at Miami International Airport at approximately 11:55 p.m. local time.

Josh Longood, a Chicago resident and jiu-jitsu instructor who was aboard the flight, helped restrain Reyes. "I knew that I could take care of it and handle it without him or anybody else getting injured. I was already ready for something to happen, so I instantly, you know, restrained him, put him in his row, laid him down, tied him up with a seatbelt," Longood said, according to CNN.

Reyes was charged with interference with flight crew members and assault within maritime and territorial jurisdiction, federal prosecutors said. He was appointed a federal public defender and has not entered a plea.

The FAA has received 687 reports of unruly passengers this year, the agency said. Joe Schwieterman, a transportation professor at DePaul University, said airlines have shifted their approach to such incidents. "What they might have let slide before, a deescalation approach, they're now pushing a legal response," Schwieterman told CNN.

A similar incident occurred Friday aboard a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Minneapolis, CNN reported. The back-to-back events have renewed calls for stronger federal penalties as authorities work to curb what the FAA has characterized as a sustained pattern of in-flight violence.