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BALTIMORE — A man was arrested for alleged unruly behavior on an American Airlines flight, causing it to divert to Baltimore on Thursday night, according to the airline and investigators.
Arthur Lundeen, 67, of Arizona, was restrained to his seat with duct tape and his hands were restrained with zip ties, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, which arrested him after the plane landed.
The incident took place on American Airlines flight AA 618, which took off from Dallas and was en route to Newark, according to the FBI and the airline.
Juan Mejia, a passenger on that flight and a former law enforcement officer, told he began hearing a disturbance about three quarters of the way into the flight.
“[The] gentleman sitting two rows behind us started becoming belligerent, making derogatory remarks to the staff of American Airlines and other passengers, racial slurs, vulgar language, very offensive to the women” sitting in the row behind the man, Mejia said.
Mejia and his friend Richard Olenick, who were on board the flight, told they were monitoring the situation and intervened after they claimed Lundeen became physical.
“Juan immediately knew that action had to be taken. He got up right away and jumped in the seat right next to the passenger and began working on restraining him in order to keep the situation contained,” Olenick told .
Authorities did not provide details of the disruption that took place during the flight, but the plane was diverted to Baltimore Washington International (BWI) Airport around 10:15 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration, which is also probing the incident, said.
The two passengers said they stayed with Lundeen until law enforcement officials boarded the plane and took him into custody after they landed in Baltimore.
“We weren’t looking to hurt this individual; we were looking more to restrain him and control him, so it didn’t escalate to go any further,” Mejia said.
Lundeen was removed from the plane and the flight continued to Newark, American Airlines said in a statement.
Lundeen was charged with disorderly conduct and second-degree assault “for incidents that occurred aboard the aircraft at BWI Airport,” the MDTA Police said.
The reported incident that took place in the air is being investigated by the FBI.
“Lundeen was cleared by paramedics for an open wound on his arm that was noticed by officers while being taken into custody,” the MTDA Police said in a statement.
“The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority and we do not tolerate violence,” American Airlines said in a statement.
The FBI said the investigation is ongoing.
News’ Jack Date contributed to this report.
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