An American Airlines passenger was arrested after allegedly becoming violent on a flight from Dallas to Newark, leading other passengers to restrain him with duct tape and zip ties. Arthur Layne Lundeen, 67, of Arizona, was arrested after American Airlines Flight 618 was diverted to Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport on Thursday night after he allegedly became violent and used racial slurs. He has been charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct in Maryland.
The incident comes as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues to record more than 1,000 reports of unruly passenger behavior each year, although numbers remain far below a surge seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FAA says the rate of incidents has fallen by more than 80 percent from record highs in early 2021. Newsweek has contacted Lundeen, American Airlines, and the FBI for comment via email outside of regular working hours.
The flight was traveling from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport when the incident took place. Juan Mejia, a passenger and former law enforcement officer, said that Lundeen became increasingly belligerent and used vulgar language and racial slurs during the flight. Mejia and another passenger, Richard Olenick, intervened after the situation allegedly became physical.
"Just like a light switch, all of a sudden, it went from quiet to yelling and chaos," Mejia told CBS News. "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." "Everyone who was in first class was basically victimized by his spewing of hatred and the discrimination, and the hostility, and vulgarness that was coming out of his mouth," Mejia added. Lundeen was eventually restrained to his seat with duct tape while his hands were secured with zip ties.
Photographs taken on board show a man bound to a first-class seat with bloody injuries to his arms. Duct tape and flexible handcuffs are often found on commercial flights to restrain violent or disruptive passengers. "I didn't know how far this was gonna go," Olenick said in an interview with CBS New York when asked about restraining Lundeen.
"I didn't know what this gentleman's intentions were. So we absolutely knew that we had to get involved and take control of the situation." The flight diverted to Baltimore, where Lundeen was removed by law enforcement before the aircraft continued on to Newark. American Airlines told ABC News that it does not tolerate violence and that the safety of its passengers and employees was its “top priority.” Arthur Layne Lundeen is a 67-year-old resident of Tucson, Arizona.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
