US3 min(s) read
A passenger onboard an American Airlines flight that was forced to land prematurely has described the terrifying moment he and others were forced to restrain an aggressive and abusive man with zip ties and duct tape.
Arthur Lundeen, 67, from Arizona, was arrested after the flight was diverted to Baltimore on Thursday night following an alleged alcohol-fueled disturbance on board.
According to Maryland Transportation Authority Police, Lundeen was restrained in his seat using duct tape, while his hands were secured with zip ties.
Passenger Juan Mejia has now explained how the situation escalated and why he felt there was no choice but to intervene.
“And I could see the escalation going. The flight attendants tried to de-escalate him. They were just getting spit venom from him. Derogatory remarks, racial comments on the whole gamut.”
Mejia said he then noticed another passenger appearing increasingly frightened.
“When I turned around, I made eye contact with the individual sitting at the aisle. You could tell when someone's looking like, ‘Please help me, please help.’ His eyes were just huge. He was like, and he was in a panic.”
That was when Mejia decided he needed to step in, “So I said, ‘I got to go.’ I went over there. I said, ‘Take your hands off. Let him go.’ At that point. I believe the female flight attendant handed us a zip tie.”
Mejia claimed Lundeen had already injured himself during the incident and that blood ended up getting onto those attempting to restrain him.
According to Mejia, Lundeen continued struggling against the zip ties.
“And Lundine kept hurting himself trying to get free of the zip ties. So they switched to duct tape.”
The passengers then used the tape to reinforce the restraints.
“We did his hands over the zip ties. Put them together so he couldn't pull them out.”
Mejia said they also secured Lundeen's legs before deciding to attach him directly to the seat.
“We did his legs together. Started on the lower torso. And I was like, I'm going to wrap him to the chair because he's not coming down. So then we went up all the way up to his shoulders.”
Mejia said he eventually placed tape around Lundeen's forehead, but deliberately avoided covering his eyes or obstructing his breathing.
“And then I said, you know what? I'm going to put it around his forehead. I didn't cover his eyes and cover his airways.”
The dramatic restraint was captured in photographs taken by fellow passenger Richard O'Lenick.
“We didn't want to hurt the individual. All we needed was for the situation to de-escalate. We needed him to stop hitting other people," O'Lenick claimed.
O'Lenick said the passengers only became more physically involved after the alleged behavior escalated into violence.
“We only took the next steps, went to the next level once it got physical.”
Lundeen has since been sacked from his job, with authorities still investigating the incident.
