Travelers recount restraining unruly passenger during flight to Newark
NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- Two New Jersey travelers are speaking out after helping restrain an unruly passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 618 headed to Newark, saying the man became belligerent, made racial and derogatory remarks and later turned physical with other passengers.
Juan Mejia and his boss, Richard O'Lenick, said the incident began when the passenger directed vulgar language at flight attendants.
"He started using the N-word and being very hostile and spewing venom towards them," Mejia said.
The two men were traveling on the final leg of a trip from Reno, Nevada, when they noticed a disturbance developing two rows behind their first-class seats.
According to O'Lenick, the passenger made alarming comments during the flight.
"So, his comment to me was, 'we're all going to die. The plane is going to crash.' I'm like, no, I said, we're going to be fine. And I tell you what, when we got to the front, when we get on the ground, we're going to be a whole bunch of new friends in blue," O'Lenick said.
Mejia and O'Lenick said they became increasingly concerned when the passenger allegedly began choking the person seated next to him and a female passenger attempted to intervene.
"When I made eye contact with him, you could see the fear in his eyes and like, without saying, 'help me, can you can you help me?' And I got up and did what I had to do," Mejia said.
The men said they stepped in to stop the passenger from harming others.
"When we first first initially engaged, we worked on physically restraining him and to try to prevent him from physically assaulting, anybody else, including ourselves, because he was resisting us," O'Lenick said.
Mejia, a retired Weehawken police officer, said his training guided his response.
"I didn't think about it. Just got up, did what I had to do and use my prior training," Mejia said.
The passenger was identified as 67-year-old Arthur Lundeen of Arizona. Mejia said the man continued resisting as crew members and passengers worked to restrain him.
"He ended up biting my hand and my forearm and kept trying to get up. Then Rich came over assisting me, put his weight on his body and torso, holding him down. And then the, crew brought zip tie," Mejia said.
Lundeen was also restrained to his seat with duct tape.
Mejia and O'Lenick said they were left covered in blood after the struggle. O'Lenick said the approaching anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks influenced his thinking as the situation unfolded.
"The terror of being feeling terrified came afterwards. Once the adrenaline level came down a little bit. And the, the reason that I would say terrified, I would say it came into play because we didn't know what we were up against at that time," O'Lenick said.
The two men said they acted to protect fellow passengers and crew members during the disturbance aboard the flight to Newark.
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