Plane passenger left with horror black eye after 'starting mid-air brawl on flight'

A cackling man emitted a “dark laugh” after sustaining a horrifying black eye in a mid-air brawl on aUS Frontier Airlines Flight.

The grinning 21-year-old Ishaan Sharma, 21, was handcuffed and escorted off the plane before he was arrested for the violent spat on the aircraft.

The alleged unprovoked attack was launched against fellow passengerKeanu Evans on the Philadelphia bound for Miami-Dade International Airport. The New Jersey man reportedly grabbed Keanu by the throat as he sat one seat behind him after muttering strange things and making death threats.

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Keanu told WSVN: "He was doing some, like, dark laugh like: 'Ha ha ha ha ha.’ And he was saying things like: 'You punt, mortal man, if you challenge me, it will result in your death.'"

Sharma allegedly attacked after Keanu pressed the assistance button to call for help from airline staff. Horrifying footage shows Sharma leering over Keanu - holding him by the throat.

Then Keanu stood up to defend himself. At this moment Sharma exacted a series of punches directly to Keanu’s face. Alarmed passengers called out for him to stop saying: "Let him go! Stop, let him go."

Later footage shows Sharma grinning as he climbs out of his seat with what looks like a bib tied around his neck. He is then seen strolling onto the tarmac, topless, still smiling.

When he was met by cops he the smirk was wiped off his face. But the smirk was wiped off his face when he was arrested by cops inside the terminal. He is pictured with his battle wounds in his mug-shot, brandishing a black bruise over his left eye and cuts across his face and neck.

Keanu later said: "What I hate is that the video doesn’t capture what started the whole thing, you know? It only captures me defending myself. It makes me feel bad because I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about who I am as a person."

Sharma was taken into custody at Miami-Dade and is charged with battery, according to the sheriff’s office. Sharma appeared in bond court on Tuesday, where his attorney claimed the altercation began while he was meditating.

"My client is from a religion where he was meditating," said defense attorney Renee Gordon. "Unfortunately, the passenger behind him did not like that." Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Gerald Hubbart, responded to this by setting Sharma’s bond at $500.

He also ordered Sharma to have no contact with the victim, either in person or on social media, and issued a 500ft stay-away order from the victim’s whereabouts.

A clear motive for the mid-air assault has yet to be determined. The Mirror has approached both the Miami-Dade Police Office and Frontier Airlines for comment.