We often hear about passengers being arrested but rarely about pilots, unless there is alcohol involved. That is not the case here. Nevertheless, a Frontier Airlines pilot was arrested onboard the flight he was about to pilot and led off in handcuffs.
Frontier Airlines Pilot Arrested At Houston Airport
On Thursday, August 1, 2024, Frontier Airlines flight 3195 was scheduled to fly from Houston (IAH) to Dallas (DFW). But the Airbus A320neo never took off. Instead, one of the pilots set to operate the flight was arrested.
The aircraft had arrived from Charlotte (CLT) and passengers deboarded. The flight crew remained onboard and planned to operate the flight to Dallas. But police boarded the aircraft and removed one of the pilots instead, who had an outstanding warrant out for him on a domestic violence matter.
Police allowed him to remove his wings and epaulets (that made the optics a little less bad, but still bad…) and escorted him down a set of stairs on the jetbridge.
With no backup pilots at Houston, the flight was canceled.
Per Frontier:
“The activity occurred prior to the start of boarding for Flight 3195 scheduled from IAH to Dallas Forth Worth (DFW). A replacement crew member was not immediately available and therefore the flight was canceled.”
As One Mile At A Time notes, arresting a pilot while he is operating a flight is a very safe way to handle an arrest warrant. Not only is the pilot less likely to create a scene (for professional reasons) but even if bypassing a metal detector due to his Known Crewmember (KCM) status, he is less likely to carry a firearm because such weapons are not permitted by airline personnel.
Of course that leaves passengers caught in the middle…I’m sure the 186 guests on board were not too happy about the cancellation under such unusual circumstances.
I won’t comment on hte domestic violence charges since we do have further details, but it seems that Texas takes such allegations very seriously.
CONCLUSION
Usually, if you see a pilot being escorted away from his plane in handcuffs it is because s/he is drunk. That was not the case here. Instead, a Frontier pilot was arrested via a domestic violence warrant. As a result, the flight was cancelled, stranding as many as 186 passengers.
Sounds like a coordinated effort with Frontier knowing he was coming into the state of Texas. After authorities contacted them about an employee with an arrest warrant outstanding. Otherwise how would Texas authorities known he was going to be in Houston on a quick layover? So in that case why didn’t Frontier have plans in place for another pilot.
Another possibility is he is still communicating with the alleged victim and they turned him in. In which case Frontier may have had no clue.
In any case it will be interesting to see if he keeps his job long term.
That’s a very good point if there was coordination with Frontier.
After learning the arrest was for family violence , I originally thought it should not be a matter for a travel blog. However with so many passengers put out by the arrest, I have changed my opinion. Since the police did not wait until after he had finished his schedule, I question if all pilots are considered a ” flight risk “.
Flight risk, lol. I need you to write my headlines!
He appears too large for the pilot seat . If he eats , he will gradually push the control wheel forward .
Family court is a weapon used against men, respect black men.
Texas takes domestic violence seriously?! I didn’t know you were a comedian. Not caring about women or vulnerable people is basically policy #1 for the party that has won every single statewide race since 1994. I think it’s pretty obvious why this guy was targeted.
Stop with your political non-sense. Geez, I’m so over you petulant children.
Brandon, I’m a Texas resident. The author mentioned that Texas is tough on domestic abuse, and I was disagreeing with him. I think there’s plenty of evidence to support that Texas politicians do not prioritize the well-being of women and venerable populations. You may disagree with me and think it’s “political nonsense,” but compared to many other political comments that are posted on this site, I don’t think what I said was entirely nonsensical.
You don’t even provide a single example, much less a dataset to prove your nonsense. You just sound like a political parrot. Nothing I saw in Texas when I was there last year for over a year indicated to me that they were somehow “soft on domestic abusers”. If you have data to prove it, then by all means, do so. If you are just chanting a poltical mantra, then STFU.
I’m not sure what statistic would prove whether or not a state is “soft” or “hard” on domestic violence. What I said, was that I didn’t believe that it was a very important issue to those in power. What I do know is that Texas basically banned all abortions potentially criminalizing rape victims, has a massive backlog of unanalyzed rape kits, and was recently ranked by Forbes as the worst ranking state in the US in mental healthcare. These stats, as well as the actions of my elected officials do nothing to make me think women, and vulnerable people are important to them.
I’m glad the year you spent here made you think this is a well run place where everyone is safe and equal. I’ve spent a good part of my life here and that’s just not my perception.
@jerry
Killing babies is wrong. Abortion should be illegal worldwide.
@Jerry, like I said. You have no data to back up your political nonsense. You just parrot the talking point of the day. Exactly as I suspected.
@Brandon chirp chirp!
You think he was arrested because he was black?
White guys can beat their wives and kids and get away with it?
To answer your questions, yes to #1. To #2 I’d say yes they can to a larger degree, and I think arrests and conviction statistics would support thay.
I’m honestly surprised that HPD prioritized this arrest warrant. I don’t disagree with their actions, but to me, I can’t help but wonder if that motivated the action.
You suffer from white envy.
What hole do these bloody people crawl out of. Whatever or where ever it is, it needs to be filled in and blocked. This is one of the most disgusting airplane things I have seen, comes close to guys in singlets and people taking their socks off and putting their feet on the bulk head.
Frontier cancels the flight is the real story.
No back-up for a pilot getting sick, or for any other reason not being able to fly?
Agreed. This is the biggest issue. This is why I refuse to fly the “low cost carriers”. You get what you pay for. IF frontier knew about this and refused to send out another pilot on another carrier to backfill this person, that is a very bad look for the carrier.