Add Us On Google Add as a preferred source on Google

BALTIMORE, MD (AZFamily) — An Arizona man was restrained with zip ties and duct tape after an alleged outburst on a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Newark forced the plane to divert to Baltimore. Video of the incident has gone viral on social media.

Court records identify the passenger as 67-year-old Arthur Lundeen, a realtor from Tucson.

Witnesses describe how the incident unfolded

Passenger Richard Olenick said the flight was about halfway to Newark, New Jersey, when the situation changed.

“The flight was relatively normal,” Olenick said.

“We started hearing one of the passengers getting a little belligerent; he started having some outbursts, he started saying inappropriate things in the cabin,” Olenick said.

Olenick said the verbal outbursts escalated quickly. A flight attendant tried to calm Lundeen down but was unsuccessful. Olenick said Lundeen then got physical.

Juan Mejia, a retired law enforcement officer who was also on the flight, said he saw Lundeen allegedly assault the passenger next to him.

“That’s when I saw the individual with his hands on what appeared to be the person sitting to his right, right next to him, on his neck,” Mejia said.

Olenick and Mejia said they stepped in. Mejia said Lundeen bit him during the struggle.

“Bit my hand, bit my forearm, so we had to use what we had available to restrain him, which was Rich’s body weight on his lap, and I had control of his hands,” Mejia said.

Crew provided zip ties, then duct tape

Mejia said a flight attendant handed them zip ties.

“We zip-tied him, but he kept fighting and pulling his hand out of the zip ties, so the next thing they had was duct tape,” Mejia said.

Mejia said the men used the tape to secure Lundeen to the seat.

“At that time we did his hands, his legs, his torso, and then his head was still flapping around, trying to headbutt and bite, so we used the tape to secure his head back,” Mejia said.

Olenick and Mejia said they held Lundeen down for the rest of the flight until the crew diverted to an emergency landing in Baltimore.

A man was arrested for alleged unruly behavior on an American Airlines flight

Former flight attendant says she carried similar restraints

Keri Engelhardt, a former flight attendant, said she carried her own restraints while working.

“I had my own roll of tuff cuffs that were issued to me and I also had a roll of duct tape as well,” Engelhardt said.

“The flexibility of it, the ease of carrying it, you can whip it out in any situation, you can undo it and redo it as necessary,” Engelhardt said.

Engelhardt said unruly passengers are a growing part of flying and praised the two men for stepping in.

“People are just- their tempers are so short anymore and a lot of it has exacerbated since COVID,” Engelhardt said.

The FAA says there have been more than 1,100 unruly passenger incidents reported so far this year.

Aviation expert warns of consequences

Aviation expert Cary Grant said consequences from an in-flight incident can follow a passenger after landing.

“You don’t want to trade your seatbelt for jail cell bars,” Grant said.

The FAA can seek fines of more than $43,000 against any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates or interferes with crew members.

“Before you start getting abusive to the flight attendants, you better think of the consequences,” Grant said.

Charges filed, airline responds

Lundeen was charged with disorderly conduct and second-degree assault. Court records list him as a Tucson resident. An attempt to reach Lundeen for comment on what happened has not been returned.

American Airlines released a statement saying the airline does not tolerate violence and thanked its team members.

On Sept. 3, ​American Airlines ​flight 618 diverted ​to ​Baltimore (BWI) ​due to a disruptive customer. Upon arrival, law enforcement met ​the ​aircraft ​and ​assisted ​with ​deplaning the ​customer before the ​flight ​continued to its ​destination. The safety ​and ​security ​of our customers ​and team members ​is our top ​priority and ​we ​do not ​tolerate violence. We thank our ​team members for ​their ​professionalism ​and ​our customers ​for ​their ​understanding.

The FBI said the investigation is ongoing.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.