This was published 2 years ago
Frontier Airlines passenger duct-taped to seat: Fake flight attendant 'Alfredo Rivera' interview goes viral
By Craig Platt
An interview with 'Alfredo Rivera', a supposed flight attendant who duct-taped an unruly passenger to his seat, has gone viral. Credit: YOUTUBE
If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Maxwell Berry, 22, of Ohio, made headlines around the world after he allegedly abused and assaulted flight attendants on a Frontier Airlines flight in the US. He was eventually subdued by crew, who used duct tape to restrain him, taping him to his seat.
Much of the incident was caught on camera by fellow passengers.
Maxwell Berry, 22, of Norwalk, Ohio, was arrested at Miami International Airport and charged with three counts of misdemeanor battery. Berry is accused of groping two female flight attendants and punching a male flight attendant during a flight.Credit: AP and Supplied
Late last week an interview with one of the flight attendants went viral, thanks to the crew member's amusing way with words.
Alfredo Rivera told US TV network One & Only: "Now understand something. I'm a flight attendant. That means I attend the flights."
"Sometimes our job has us attending to crazy people. If you push us too far, you're going to have to attend this ass-whooping."
"This man smelled like a pack of Marlboro cigarettes, four shots of Everclear alcohol and regret — so I know something's about to go down."
Rivera says he showed the passenger the duct tape, claiming the passenger then "got scared and started stuttering, 'Hold up, wait a minute, something ain't right.'
"I said, "Yeah, we're about to m-m-m-mummify your ass now, boy.' So we wrapped him up better than any Christmas present you ever seen."
The video then cuts to two news anchors laughing at the clip.
Rivera's interview quickly went viral, clocking up an incredible 23 million views on Twitter, along with more than 4 million on YouTube.
Alas, it was all fake. "Alfredo Rivera" is not a flight attendant - in fact that's not his real name and the news channel isn't real either. Rivera is actually comedian and YouTuber "The Real Spark", also known as James Bates.
Bates specialises in fake interviews for real news stories, clocking up millions of views on his YouTube channel. In this case the name "Alfredo Rivera" came from a real passenger who was on board the flight during the incident and was later interviewed on Good Morning America.
Many high profile people on Twitter shared the video. It's not clear how many of them realised it was a joke.
Meanwhile, Miami-Dade Police Department have charged Berry with three counts of battery.
The incident is just the latest in an increasing series of cases of unruly behaviour by passengers on planes in the US.
The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said last week airlines had reported 3715 incidents this year, with about three quarters of them involving passengers refusing to wear face masks (as required by US federal government rules).
The US Association of Flight Attendants said nearly one in five members who responded to a survey reported witnessing or being involved in physical incidents involving passengers this year.
The FAA has proposed the banning of take-away alcohol sales at airport bars to help deal with the problem.
See also: Air New Zealand apologises to passenger after asking her to cover up on flight
See also: How we developed a 'hypersexualised' image of flight attendants
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