A 21-year-old Indian-origin man from New Jersey was arrested after allegedly assaulting a fellow passenger during a violent altercation aboard a Frontier Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Miami on Monday night.
The accused, Ishaan Sharma, was taken into custody upon landing at Miami International Airport and has been charged with battery.
Footage captured on a mobile phone shows Sharma and another passenger, Keanu Evans, exchanging punches as other passengers and a flight attendant tried to intervene. “Let him go, stop,” a fellow passenger is heard yelling, while a crew member urges, “Sir, you have to sit down.”
Evans later told WSVN that the attack was unprovoked and that Sharma had been behaving erratically before the incident, allegedly making threats and laughing in a disturbing manner. “He was doing this dark laugh and saying, ‘You puny mortal man, if you challenge me, it will result in your death,’” Evans claimed.
Evans said he reported the behavior to the crew, who advised him to press the call button if the situation escalated. Moments later, Sharma allegedly headbutted him and began choking him. “At that moment, it was fight or flight,” Evans said. “All I could do was defend myself.”
The altercation left Sharma with a cut above his left eyebrow and Evans with facial scratches. Witnesses said Sharma returned to his seat smiling and took selfies of his bloodied face before police escorted him off the plane in handcuffs.
According to The Daily Mail, Sharma was taken to Jackson West Hospital for treatment before being booked. During his court appearance on Tuesday, his attorney Renee Gordon claimed Sharma had been meditating and that the confrontation stemmed from a misunderstanding related to his religious practice. “My client was meditating according to his religion. The passenger behind him didn’t like it,” Gordon said.
However, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Gerald Hubbart was unconvinced. He set Sharma’s bond at $500 and issued a stay-away order, prohibiting him from contacting Evans or approaching his residence, school, or workplace.
“I don’t want people to think I’m a violent person,” Evans said in an interview. “I recently got baptized. I just wish I had pushed harder to be moved away from him.”
Frontier Airlines has yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident.