Overview
- Passengers and crew restrained a 67-year-old man with zip ties and layers of duct tape after witnesses say he became violent and hurled racial and anti-gay slurs on American Airlines Flight 618.
- The flight, en route from Dallas–Fort Worth to Newark, diverted to Baltimore and landed about 15 minutes after the disturbance on Sept. 3, where Maryland Transportation Authority Police met the aircraft and arrested the man.
- Maryland authorities identified the suspect as Arthur Lundeen of Arizona and charged him with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct for incidents at BWI Airport.
- The FBI and the FAA are gathering facts and consulting the U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine whether federal charges will follow, and photos and video of the extensive duct-taping have been widely circulated.
- The episode raises operational and safety questions about improvised restraints on planes and comes as the FAA records a high number of unruly-passenger incidents this year that can draw civil fines and criminal scrutiny.