Well, That's One Way to Keep an Unruly Passenger Seated

Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Texas ended up helping to duct-tape a man to his seat after a midair meltdown, authorities say. USA Today reports that Flight 618 left the Dallas-Fort Worth area for Newark on Thursday night but diverted to Baltimore after the crew reported a "passenger disturbance," according to the FAA. The plane landed safely around 10:15pm local time, where Maryland Transportation Authority Police arrested the man, whom ABC News identifies as 67-year-old Arthur Lundeen.

Passenger Juan Mejia, a onetime law enforcement officer, told reporters that the man, seated a couple of rows behind him, became aggressive late in the flight, hurling insults, racial slurs, and vulgar remarks at crew and travelers, including with women seated nearby, per USA Today. Mejia said several people moved in to restrain the man—police note that duct tape was used to secure his body while zip ties were used for his hands—with the goal of preventing the situation from escalating further.

The FAA says unruly passenger cases can be referred for criminal prosecution and can bring civil penalties of up to nearly $44,000 per violation, along with potential impacts on TSA PreCheck and airline no-fly status. The agency reports there have been 1,163 unruly passenger incidents so far this year.