Video Shows Passenger Getting Pummeled After Instigating Fight Mid-Flight

A video shared online shows a Frontier Airlines passenger getting pummeled after instigating a fight mid-flight.

Ishaan Sharma, 21, of Newark, New Jersey, was charged with battery after allegedly assaulting Keanu Evans unprovoked during their Frontier Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Miami-Dade International Airport just prior to landing, WSVN reports. Sharma was alleged to be muttering strange things and issuing death threats before grabbing Evans, who sat one seat behind him, by the throat.

“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 told WSVN.

Sharma allegedly became irate when Evans pressed the button calling for Frontier staff to provide assistance. The video showed Sharma standing over Evans and grabbing him by the throat before Evans got the advantage, landing several punches.

“Let him go! Stop, let him go,” unidentified passengers were heard pleading.

Both the video footage and a mugshot showed Sharma with noticeable facial injuries including a large shiner and cut over his left eye. Evans also experienced a few scratches on his face, however, was more regretful over having to be involved in the incident at all.

“It makes me feel bad because I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about who I am as a person,” he told WSVN.

Sharma was detained at Miami-Dade International Airport upon landing and his attorneys claim he was "meditating" during the flight.

“My client is from a religion where he was meditating,” defense attorney Renee Gordon said via the Daily Mail. “Unfortunately, the passenger behind him did not like that.”

Frontier Airlines didn't provide a public response to the incident.