California man assaulted Frontier flight attendants, prosecutors say

A California man accused of assaulting crew members and threatening to kill everyone aboard a Frontier Airlines flight was arrested Wednesday on federal charges, prosecutors announced. Charles Angel Salva, 30, of Fremont, Calif., faces federal charges of interference with flight crew members and attendants, prosecutors said on Thursday. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The disruption happened on Monday evening shortly after Frontier Airlines Flight 3581 had taken off from John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif., bound for San Francisco International Airport and resulted in an emergency landing at Ontario International Airport, about 30 miles northeast of Santa Ana. The plane had not yet reached 10,000 feet when flight attendants noticed the that oxygen masks above seats in Row 18 had deployed, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the criminal complaint. Flight crew members who went to assess the situation found Salva with his hand in the overhead compartment. A passenger sitting in Row 19 told investigators that Salva had appeared claustrophobic and had seemed to want to get off the flight before he pulled down the oxygen mask from the overhead compartment and got his hand stuck in the process, the affidavit said. The passenger helped Mr. Salva get his hand unstuck. One flight attendant who responded to the situation described Salva as being sweaty and out of breath and reported that he was yelling obscenities and saying, “We are all going to hell,” and “This plane is going down,” according to the affidavit. The flight attendant tried to restrain Salva as he tried to “violently grab” at other passengers, it says. Salva then ran to the back of the plane, where he tried to choke the flight attendant using the lanyard around the attendant’s neck, the affidavit says. Story has details.<br/>