A video recorded by passengers aboard flight 3345 from Frontier Airlines shows the chaos that erupted on Sunday when crew members and travelers tried to subdue a man who had assaulted an off-duty flight attendant and attempted to open an exit door mid-flight.
The incident forced the aircraft, which was on the San Juan–Chicago route, to divert to Miami International Airport.
The images, shared on social media and by news outlets, show the interior of the cabin turned into a struggle scene, with several passengers and crew members trying to restrain the accused in the aisle as he forcefully resisted.
According to court documents, Juan Gabriel Reyes, 51 years old and a resident of Pahokee, Florida, was restrained with flexible handcuffs and seatbelt extenders, but managed to free himself multiple times before being finally subdued.
Among those who helped reduce it was Josh Longood, a former professional mixed martial arts fighter, who shared the events on his Instagram stories.
"You board a flight from Puerto Rico to Chicago and end up having to subdue and tie up a guy who attacked a flight attendant," Longood wrote; he added, "Fortunately, I have a light sleep and was only a row away when everything happened... I hope my next flight is considerably more boring."
The post included a photograph of him smiling with his thumb raised while, in the background, Reyes was being subdued.
The sequence of incidents on board
The events began approximately 45 minutes after takeoff, around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, according to the arrest report from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.
Reyes attempted to open an emergency exit door while the plane was in flight, telling other passengers that he wanted to leave the aircraft.
The flight attendants stopped him and ordered him to return to his seat, but he ignored their instructions.
He then walked to the front of the plane and attempted to enter the cockpit: according to the arrest affidavit, "he placed his hand on the door handle and aggressively pushed the pilot's door with his shoulder," being blocked by a flight attendant.
Later, the crew allowed him to use the restroom, where Reyes attempted to urinate on the floor, which led to him being escorted to another seat. A Frontier flight attendant traveling off duty voluntarily offered to sit in the same row to keep an eye on him.
When another passenger alerted the flight attendant that Reyes was handling her bag, she tried to retrieve it, at which point Reyes "grabbed her by the head and began to strangle her," according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office.
“Flight attendants and passengers worked together to subdue him while he resisted,” the arrest report states.
Arrest, federal charges, and pending hearing
The flight landed in Miami around 11:55 p.m., where agents from the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office took Reyes into custody. The FBI took over the federal investigation; Reyes was informed of his Miranda rights but chose to invoke them and did not make any statements.
On Tuesday, he appeared for the first time before a federal court in Miami. He faces federal charges of interference with a crew —with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison— and assault within maritime and territorial jurisdiction, as well as a state charge of battery. He remains detained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with a bond of $20,000.
This incident is not the first of its kind in 2026: in May, a passenger assaulted a flight attendant and attempted to enter the cockpit of United Airlines flight 1837 from the Dominican Republic to Newark.
A preventive detention hearing for Reyes is scheduled for this Friday, while flight 3345 continued to Chicago "a few hours after" the emergency landing, according to a spokesperson for Frontier Airlines.
Filed under: