Summary
- A Frontier Airlines flight diverted to Ontario airport due to an unruly passenger threatening flight safety.
- The airline flew the passengers from Ontario to their destination a few hours later.
- Japanese carriers Japan Airlines and ANA have created strict frameworks to protect their crew members from harassment and unruly passenger behavior.
Earlier this week, a Frontier Airlines flight from Santa Ana, California, had to divert to Ontario after a passenger onboard became unruly and violent, hurting crew members and threatening to kill everyone onboard. The passenger was arrested and is facing federal charges, with severe consequences and penalties if convicted.
The incident
The incident occurred earlier this week, on Monday, and according to The New York Times, involved a Californian man onboard Frontier Airlines
flight F9-3581, which is a scheduled service between Santa Ana John Wayne Airport (SNA) and San Francisco International Airport
(SFO). Reports suggest that shortly after taking off, before the aircraft even reached 10,000 feet, the crew members noticed the oxygen mask over the passenger’s seat had been deployed.
Details from the affidavits filed reportedly suggest that the passenger felt claustrophobic prior to take-off and had managed to get his hand stuck in the overhead compartment. However, when the passenger’s hand was freed, he seemed agitated and sweaty and reportedly yelled unsettling phrases such as, “We are all going to hell” and “This plane is going down”.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Upon trying to retrain the violent passenger, he reportedly tried to grab other passengers, kick and visibly bruise a crew member’s leg, and also choke another crew member using their lanyard, leaving marks around the crew member’s neck.
In the end, other passengers had to get involved in subduing the passenger, and the crew members even had to use a pair of flex cuffs. Facing charges for interfering with crew members and attendants, if convicted, the passenger will face prison time of up to 20 years.
Causing a diversion
Usually, when a passenger is unruly onboard the aircraft, they are restrained, but often, depending on the severity of the situation, the flight is diverted for the overall safety of passengers and crew members. During this incident, the pilots diverted the aircraft to Ontario International Airport
(ONT), an airport 30 miles to the northeast of SNA.
Data from FlightRadar24.com shows that the aircraft involved was an eight-year-old Airbus A320-200
aircraft that departed from SEN with a delay of over four hours on the day, and the aircraft landed in Ontario just after an hour.
The data also shows that the passengers from the flight were facilitated onboard another aircraft, this time a two-year-old Airbus A320neo
, and flown to San Francisco. The flight departed at 00:23 the next morning and arrived at 01:19 after a flight time of 57 minutes.
Protecting the crew
Crew members onboard an aircraft do much more than just serve passengers; they are integral to maintaining flight safety. Yet, they often tend to be the ones to face the attitudes and actions of unruly passengers onboard. While this is a global issue, there might be a solution for airlines to protect their crew members.
Japanese carriers Japan Airlines
and All Nippon Airways
(ANA) recently collaborated on creating guidelines that protect the airlines’ crew from unruly passengers and their harassment.
The two carriers have created a framework that clearly encompasses and categorically lists actions and words that will be considered as unruly behavior or harassment. The framework also specifies how the crew can deal with passengers depending on different situations.
If proven to be a success, it is possible that airlines around the world will follow suit and create their own policies to protect their crew members.