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A man who allegedly threatened crew members on an Orlando, Florida-bound Frontier Airlines flight that forced the pilots to divert to North Carolina appeared in federal court this week, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
Michael Aaron Ganter is charged with interference of a flight crew and flight attendants stemming from the Feb. 9 incident. He was a passenger on a flight that departed New York City‘s LaGuardia Airport when he made violent threats to the flight crew and disrupted the flight, federal prosecutors said, citing alleged statements from other passengers.
He was restrained by flight attendants and passengers. Because of the chaos unfolding in mid-air, the pilots diverted the flight to Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
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Video footage of the incident appears to show passengers restraining a man in a seat as he hurls profanities.
Upon landing, Ganter was taken to a hospital to be evaluated and then arrested by FBI agents. It was not clear what motivated him to make the alleged threats.
“Passengers who threaten violence in the close confines of a commercial aircraft put everyone in danger,” U.S. Attorney Michael Easley said. “My office will continue to aggressively prosecute federal crimes in the skies and ensure the safety of the flying public. Safe air travel is essential to our economy and keeping families connected. No passenger, flight crew, or flight attendant should have to fly in fear.”
The flight was grounded for two hours before being allowed to continue to Orlando.
Disturbances and threats made by passengers aboard airliners have risen sharply following federally-imposed mask mandates on flights.
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The Federal Aviation Administration has taken a zero-tolerance approach to bad behavior in the skies. As of Tuesday, the agency reported 394 reports of unruly passengers this year, of which 255 were related to face masks.
In response, the FAA has launched 123 investigations and 59 enforcement actions cases have been initiated.
