Frontier passenger chokes off-duty flight attendant after trying to open exit door and cockpit on Chicago flight, police say

By Alexandra Skores, CNN

(CNN) — A Frontier Airlines flight heading to Chicago on Sunday had to divert to Miami International Airport because a passenger choked an off-duty flight attendant shortly after he tried to open an emergency exit door and enter the cockpit, police records show.

The passenger, Juan Gabriel Reyes, 51, has been charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants and assault within maritime and territorial jurisdiction, court records show. He has been appointed a federal public defender and has not yet entered a plea. CNN has reached out to Reyes’ attorney for comment.

The incident came as the FAA has received 687 reports of unruly passengers this year.

Reyes, 51, became disruptive about 45 minutes after Frontier flight 3345 departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, en route to Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, saying he wanted to get off the plane and trying to open an emergency exit door, according to an arrest affidavit from the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and a federal criminal complaint.

After he was prevented from opening the door, Reyes approached the cockpit and began “shoving his shoulder aggressively on the pilot’s door,” the documents say.

As a flight attendant ushered him away from the door and let him use the restroom on the way back to his seat, Reyes attempted to urinate on the bathroom floor, the affidavit says. He was escorted to a new seat, and an off-duty flight attendant volunteered to sit in his row.

The off-duty flight attendant moved his belongings and went to use the restroom, but Reyes tried to grab the man’s bag off the floor, according to the affidavit. When he asked Reyes to stop and moved to a seat across the aisle, Reyes “got on top of the victim” and “grabbed the victim by the head and choked him,” the federal complaint says.

Several passengers worked together with on-duty flight attendants to restrain Reyes with flex cuffs, which he broke out of several times, and seatbelt extenders, according to the documents.

Restrained by a Jiu-Jitsu instructor

Josh Longood, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor who was also traveling to Chicago, said he was one of the passengers who helped restrain Reyes.

Longood “knew” he could handle the situation without anybody getting hurt, he told CNN affiliate WLS.

“What are the chances?” he said. “That’s why I train. That’s why I do Jiu-Jitsu, so I can handle myself in a real-life situation like that.”

Longood said he saw Reyes try to attack the off-duty flight attendant and jumped into action, restraining him in his row, and tying him up with a seatbelt.

“I’m just lucky I was in the seat that I was in because I knew that I could take care of it and handle it without him or anybody else getting injured,” Longood told WLS.

The flight was diverted to Miami International Airport and landed around 11:55 p.m. local time Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

Reyes was taken into custody by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office and turned over to the FBI for questioning, according to the documents.

The flight continued to Chicago a few hours later, Frontier Airlines said in a statement.

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