Frontier Passenger Tries To Open Plane Door, Charges, Then Chokes Flight Attendant

Frontier Airlines flight 3345 from San Juan to Chicago O’Hare diverted to Miami on Sunday night after a passenger tried to open the plane’s exit doors, moved toward the cockpit, and choked an off-duty flight attendant before passengers and crew restrained him. The aircraft made it to Miami at 11:55 p.m., law enforcement removed the man, and the flight continued to Chicago several hours later.

He took the airline’s admonition to ‘Go Wild’ seriously! The customer became disruptive about 45 minutes after departure, said he wanted off the plane, and tried to get off on his own. That’s when he moved toward the cockpit and shoved his shoulder into the door – and tried to urinate on the lavatory floor.

A flight attendant traveling as a nonrev volunteered to sit near him to monitor his behavior. He grabbed that employee’s head and choked him. Crew and passengers restrained the man with flex cuffs, which he managed to break more than once. Then they used seatbelt extenders to keep him restrained until landing.

🚨🇺🇸#BREAKING | NEWS ⚠️
Another flight emergency last night ‼️
Frontier Airlines flight (#F3345) from
San Juan, Puerto Rico bound for Chicago had to make an emergency diversion and had to land at Miami International Airport.

Reports that a man mid flight tried to open up one of… pic.twitter.com/rEf5KiKysK

— Todd Paron🇺🇸🇬🇷🎧👽 (@tparon) June 2, 2026

According to a passenger onboard,

Was on Flight from San Juan to Chicago yesterday. Already started off great with a 3 hour maintenance delay at SJU… Shortly after takeoff, a passenger who was clearly drunk or on something started going absolutely unhinged. We’re talking repeatedly trying to open the doors mid-flight, punching other passengers, and attempting to choke a flight attendant. …Eventually other passengers jumped in and we all had to help restrain this person with whatever we could find on board (seatbelt extensions, I think??).

Here’s the thing though we were flying out of San Juan. There’s basically nowhere to land for a long stretch after takeoff. So we were just…. stuck up there with this person for hours while the crew figured out what to do. Genuinely one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.

Pilot eventually made the call to divert to Miami. We land around midnight. And then… nothing. No information, no updates, no staff to talk to. We were told if we left the gate area we couldn’t come back because TSA had shut down for the night. So we just sat there in a closed airport for 3+ hours with no food, no water, nothing. Eventually we boarded and I got home to Chicago at 6am.

The passenger faces federal charges of interference with flight crew and assault. He wouldn’t have been able to open the door at altitude, of course, becuase of cabin versus outside pressure differentials (the plane needs to be close to the ground for that to work).

Social media comments on this are quote something, from “Go Wild pass,” “Go apeshit pass” and “Must’ve shorted Nvidia,” to “Frontier has officially absorbed the Spirit refugees.”