Man duct-taped to seat during mid-flight disturbance fired from his job

· Toronto Sun

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An unruly passenger who had to be zip-tied and duct-taped to his seat after allegedly making racist and homophobic slurs has been fired from his job as a real estate agent.

Arthur Lundeen, who faces disorderly conduct and assault charges following the incident aboard an American Airlines flight heading from Dallas to Newark, N.J., last Thursday, is “no longer associated” with the Tucson, Ariz., realty company where he was employed.

“Long Realty is aware of reports concerning criminal charges filed against a former affiliated real estate agent arising from an incident that allegedly occurred during a commercial flight,” the company said in a statement posted on its social media and LinkedIn accounts.

“Upon learning of the incident, Long Realty promptly ended its affiliation with the individual. The individual is no longer associated with or authorized to represent Long Realty in any capacity.”

It added: “The conduct described in the reports is wholly inconsistent with the professionalism, integrity, compassion, and respect for others that Long Realty expects from those affiliated with the company. We expect those associated with our company to uphold those values, and we have no tolerance for conduct that so clearly falls short of those expectations.”

Two other passengers stepped in to help

According to witnesses, the 67-year-old Arizona native was allegedly drunk when he berated a male passenger in the seat next to him.

Juan Mejia, a retired police officer, told CBS New York that the situation suddenly got chaotic.

“I turned around to look, and the poor gentleman that was sitting next to him in the aisle seat, the individual had his hands around his neck and was, like, assaulting him,” Mejia said.

Speaking to NBC News , Mejia said flight attendants tried to de-escalate the situation, but he said Lundeen spat out “derogatory remarks, racial comments.”

Another passenger, Richard Olenick told the CBS New York that he “called one of the flight attendants the N word.”

During the violent outburst, anti-gay slurs were allegedly yelled at the victim.

The two men said they helped flight attendants to zip-tie Lundeen and duck-tape him to his seat.

The flight was diverted to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where Maryland authorities arrested Lundeen.

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