A 21-year-old Indian-origin man has been arrested in the US after allegedly attacking a fellow passenger during a mid-air brawl on a Frontier Airlines flight. According to the New York Post, the incident occurred on Monday on board a Frontier Flight from Philadelphia to Miami. The accused, identified as Ishaan Sharma, allegedly attacked a fellow passenger “without provocation,” following which he was arrested as the plane touched down in Miami. After the mid-air fight, the 21-year-old sustained a black eye along with lacerations on his eyebrow, while the victim suffered minor injuries.
According to the Post, Sharma assaulted Keanu Evans for no apparent reason soon after their flight took off from Philadelphia. A video shot on a mobile phone shows the two men engaged in a violent fight as other flyers and a flight attendant attempt to break up the brawl. “Let him go. Stop, let him go,” a fellow passenger is heard in the background, while a crew member tells them, “Sir, you have to sit down.”
No more vacation…🫣| #ONLYinDADE
* Man gets kicked off of Frontier flight after getting into altercation pic.twitter.com/us6ipoW5E7
— ONLY in DADE (@ONLYinDADE) July 1, 2025
Evans told media outlets that moments before the 21-year-old grabbed him by the throat, he was seated in front of him and muttering strange things, even issuing death threats. “He was doing some, like, 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 recounted.
He said that Sharma became irate when he pressed the assistance button and called for help from Frontier staff.
Following the fight, Sharma sustained a black eye and a laceration on his left eyebrow. Evans, on the other hand, suffered minor scratches. “It makes me feel bad because I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about who I am as a person,” the victim said.
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The 21-year-old was taken into custody at Miami-Dade and is charged with battery, per the outlet. After his arrest, his lawyer reportedly said that Sharma was just meditating on the flight and “silent practice” was seen as a threat by Evans. “My client is from a religion where he was meditating. Unfortunately, the passenger behind him did not like that,” the lawyer stated.
However, the judge was not convinced. They set Sharma’s bond at $500 and issued a stay-away order, barring him from contacting the victim or going near his school or workplace.
