Passenger Who Was Taped to Seat After Groping Flight Attendants Learns Fate

Update: The man who was duct-taped to his seat last year after groping two flight attendants on a Frontier Airlines flight and punching another was sentenced Tuesday. Max Berry, now 23, will spend 60 days in jail followed by a year of supervised release, ABC News reports. Berry pleaded guilty to three counts of assault within maritime and territorial jurisdiction, and in court, he apologized and said he has felt remorse ever since the immediate aftermath of the incident. Two of the flight attendants, however, said 60 days behind bars was not enough. Berry has received treatment for substance abuse issues, depression, and anxiety since the incident. Our original story from Aug. 3, 2021, follows:

A passenger on a flight from Philadelphia to Miami spent part of the flight duct-taped to his seat and was arrested on arrival Sunday morning. Ohio resident Maxwell Berry, 22, allegedly groped the breasts of two Frontier Airlines flight attendants and punched a third before he was restrained, the Washington Post reports. According to a police report, Berry ordered two alcoholic drinks from a flight attendant and brushed his cup "inappropriately" against her backside while ordering another. He then spilled that drink on his shirt. When he went to the lavatory and emerged shirtless, a flight attendant helped him get a new shirt from his luggage and he then groped two attendants while walking around the plane, the police report states. The Post reports that Berry was heard boasting about his parents' net worth.

The police report says Berry punched a male flight attendant in the face after he was asked to stay in his seat. Video recorded by other passengers shows Berry swearing at flight attendants. Berry was restrained with the help of other passengers and the attendant had to "tape him down to the seat and tie him with a seat-belt extender" for the rest of his flight, according to the report. Berry was charged with three counts of battery and taken to the Miami-Dade County Jail, ABC7 reports. "The flight attendants will be, as required in such circumstances, relieved of flying pending completion of investigation of the events," the airline said in a statement. The airline said the attendants are on paid leave and it is "fully supporting their needs." (This Texas man was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old passenger on a flight to Montana.)