An American Airlines aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing after a disruptive passenger allegedly became violent and hurled abuse at his fellow passengers and members of the crew. The man was restrained using duct tape and zip ties until the plane could land safely. He was deplaned before being arrested by local police in Baltimore.
Passenger Incident Forces American Airlines Flight to Make Emergency Landing
On Sept. 3 an American Airlines plane was forced to divert after a passenger incident occurred and a man became violent mid-flight, requiring the aircraft to make an emergency landing to deal with the issue.
Flight AA618 was travelling from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) when a male passenger was involved in a violent incident. The issue occurred around two hours into the flight, according to initial passenger reports.
ABC News have identified the man in question as Arthur Lundeen, 67, of Arizona.
The decision was made to land at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) to deplane Lundeen as soon as possible. The aircraft landed around 10.15 p.m. where the aircraft was met by law enforcement, and the man was removed from the aircraft and arrested, as confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In a statement following the conclusion of the incident, American Airlines said:
“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.”
Following Lundeen’s removal from the aircraft, the flight resumed its journey and successfully arrived in Newark without further incident.
Passenger Restrained With Duct Tape After Violent Outburst
According to passenger statements, Lundeen became violent after shouting racial and homophobic slurs at crew and other passengers, including the passenger sat next to him on the flight.
He also reportedly hit at least two passengers who were attempting to deescalate the situation, and then subsequently helped to restrain Lundeen after turning violent towards his seatmate and breaking their laptop.
In an interview with CBS News, Juan Mejia who had been sitting two rows in front of Lundeen and was involved in the restraining of Lundeen, stated that he had seen the situation escalating from his own seat when he decided to try and intervene:
“I turned around to look, and the poor gentleman that was sitting next to him in the aisle seat, the individual had his hands around his neck and was, like, assaulting him.”
Mejia also stated that Lundeen had been making several derogatory comments towards the staff and other passengers before he became physical. When he and fellow passenger Richard Olenick tried to help crew deal with the incident, they also faced violent behaviour by Lundeen:
“He bit my hand. He didn’t break skin, just left teeth marks on my hand. We were covered in his blood. He was bleeding quite a bit from cuts that he inflicted on himself.”
Eventually Lundeen was restrained by being duct-taped to his seat along with zip-ties binding his hands together for 15 minutes as the plane made its emergency landing.
Some passengers reported witnessing a flight attendant give Lundeen one drink, however it is unconfirmed whether alcohol was a significant factor in the situation.
The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) police confirmed that Lundeen had been charged with disorderly conduct and second-degree assault “for incidents that occurred aboard the aircraft at BWI Airport,” according to ABC News.
Have you ever witnessed anything like this onboard a flight? Let us know in the comments below.
