 "A 21-year-old Indian-origin man, identified as Ishaan Sharma, allegedly attacked a fellow passenger in a violent mid-air brawl in US. Image courtesy: X")
A flight from Philadelphia to Miami turned chaotic when a 21-year-old Indian-origin man, identified as Ishaan Sharma, allegedly attacked a fellow passenger in a violent mid-air brawl.
The incident, which unfolded on a Frontier Airlines flight earlier this week, left passengers shaken and has since gone viral on social media.
Authorities have now charged Sharma with battery, and the case has raised serious questions about in-flight safety and passenger conduct.
Here’s what we know about the case.
What happened?
The altercation took place mid-air, just before the flight landed in Miami. According to Keanu Evans, the passenger who was attacked, Ishaan Sharma had been acting oddly during the flight, and making disturbing statements that sounded like death threats.
“He was doing some… dark laugh like, ‘Ha ha ha ha ha.’ And he was saying things like, ‘You puny, mortal man, if you challenge me, it will result in your death,’” Evans told WSVN in an interview.
Evans said he raised concerns with the flight crew, who advised him to press the assistance button if Sharma continued behaving strangely. Moments later, Sharma allegedly returned and began confronting him again.
“You know, he’s looking at me very angrily and we’re looking eye to eye, forehead to forehead, and then he just grabs me by the throat and just starts choking me,” Evans recalled.
“He just got up, put his forehead on mine like he was challenging me, and then grabbed me by the throat and started choking me… At that moment, it was fight or flight… all I could do was defend myself,” he added.
Videos taken by other passengers show the two men physically struggling as fellow travellers urge them to stop. “Stop, let him go,” pleads another.
A flight attendant is also seen stepping in, attempting to calm the situation. “Sir, you have to sit down,” the crew member says, but the effort reportedly failed to break up the fight.
The scuffle left Sharma with a cut above his left eyebrow, while Evans sustained scratches on his face. Eyewitnesses noted that after the altercation, Sharma returned to his seat grinning and even took selfies of his bloodied face.
What lies ahead for Sharma?
Once the plane landed at Miami International Airport, police boarded the flight and handcuffed Sharma on the spot. Officials said he had a facial injury that required stitches.
Evans later expressed regret over the whole incident, stressing that he didn’t want to be misjudged.
“If you see on my face, I’ve got some scratches from him scratching me on this right-hand side,” he said.
“I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about who I am. I’m a good person. I recently got baptised. I just wish I had been more firm in asking to be moved away from him.”
As per The Daily Mail, Sharma was taken to Jackson West Hospital for treatment before being booked into police custody.
In court on Tuesday, Sharma’s lawyer, Renee Gordon, claimed that the entire confrontation stemmed from a misunderstanding.
“My client is from a religion where he was meditating,” Gordon said. “Unfortunately, the passenger behind him did not like that.”
However, the judge, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Gerald Hubbart, didn’t accept that explanation. He set Sharma’s bond at $500 and issued a stay-away order, preventing him from contacting Evans or coming near his school or workplace.
Frontier Airlines has not yet released a public statement regarding the incident.
With input from agencies