A California man on a Frontier Airlines flight was arrested on Wednesday after attempting to strangle a flight attendant and threatening to kill everybody. The unruly passenger ultimately caused the flight to be diverted, according to officials.
Charles Angela Salva, 30, of Fremont, California, was a passenger on Flight 3581 departing from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana to San Francisco International Airport on Monday, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison for interfering with flight crew members.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Frontier Airlines confirmed the incident "involving a passenger who physically assaulted members of the flight crew and had to be restrained, forcing the flight to divert to Ontario, California."
One passenger told law enforcement they noticed that Salva seemed "claustrophobic" and "like he wanted to get off the plane."
Shortly after takeoff, flight attendants noticed the oxygen masks in one row in the middle of the aircraft were out of the overhead compartment and discovered that Salva had pulled down the masks and got his hand stuck in the process, the release said.
Salva soon began "yelling obscenities" at the flight attendants, including, "We are all going to hell" and "This airplane is going down." He got out of his seat, grabbed at other passengers and ran toward the rear of the aircraft.
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As crew members tried to restrain him, Salva assaulted them multiple times. He allegedly tried to choke one of them – leaving two small marks on their neck. He then pushed another flight attendant and said he "going to kill everybody."
Breaking out of flex cuffs, Salva had to be restrained by a seatbelt with assistance from other passengers. He kicked one flight attendant in the legs about six times, leaving bruising and swelling that required medical attention, the release said.
The flight was then diverted to Ontario International Airport. "We extend our utmost appreciation to the flight crew for their professionalism and to the other passengers who assisted during the incident, as well as local and federal law enforcement, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, for their efforts to ensure justice," Frontier Airlines said.
The FBI and Ontario Police Department are currently investigating the incident, according to the release.
As of Friday, there has been 897 incidents of unruly passengers , according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Unruly passenger threatens to 'kill everybody' and choke flight attendant on Frontier flight
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