‘All of a sudden, it went from quiet to yelling and chaos’
Two passengers sitting nearby quickly became involved.Juan Mejia, a retired New Jersey police officer, was seated two rows ahead alongside Richard Olenick, the owner of a gun range.
Mejia said the change in atmosphere happened almost instantly.
He compared it to the flick of a “light switch.”
“All of a sudden, it went from quiet to yelling and chaos,” Mejia told CBS News.
When he turned around to see what was happening, he said he saw Cahn being physically confronted by the man sitting next to him.
“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.
Olenick alleged that Lundeen also began using racial and homophobic slurs.
Mejia described the atmosphere in first class as increasingly hostile, saying passengers were exposed to what he characterized as a barrage of hateful and offensive language.
“Everyone who was in first class was basically victimized by his spewing of hatred and the discrimination, and the hostility, and vulgarness that was coming out of his mouth,” Mejia told CBS News.
The passengers then decided they had to intervene.
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Breaking News NJ gun shop owner ID’d as hero who duct-taped unruly airline passenger — and his clapback to the lunatic was brilliant One of the heroes who jumped in to duct-tape an unruly airline passenger was identified as a New Jersey gun range owner — who gave the nutbag a blunt wakeup call du…
The decision to restrain him
Mejia and Olenick stepped in to help, but according to their accounts, Lundeen fought back.The struggle became physical.
“He bit my hand. He didn’t break skin, just left teeth marks on my hand. We were covered in his blood,” Mejia said.
He also said Lundeen was bleeding heavily from injuries he had inflicted on himself.
“He was bleeding quite a bit from cuts that he inflicted on himself,” Mejia recalled.
With the situation becoming increasingly difficult to control, a flight attendant supplied zip ties.
The passengers then restrained Lundeen’s hands and used duct tape to secure his body to the seat.
The unusual scene would later become one of the most widely discussed details of the incident.
But restraining Lundeen did not immediately bring the situation under control.
“Physically it lessened his ability to move for sure, but it did not solve the issue. He was still pushing and resisting and trying to get up,” Olenick told CNN.
His mouth was not taped, meaning he was still able to breathe freely—and, according to Olenick, continue shouting insults.
At one point, Olenick said he ended up sitting on Lundeen’s lap to keep him from getting up again.
“Because the man started acting up again,” Olenick explained.
The restraints remained in place for approximately 15 minutes as the aircraft was diverted toward Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
By the time the plane landed, police were waiting.
The confrontation allegedly continued after landing
Passengers might have expected the ordeal to end once the aircraft reached the ground.According to court records, however, the confrontation allegedly continued.
After police removed the restraints, Lundeen allegedly struck an officer in the chest.
He was then escorted from the aircraft and taken into custody.
Lundeen was charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.
But the following day, he offered a very different account of what he remembered.
‘I don’t remember any of what happened’
On September 4, Lundeen appeared before District Court Commissioner George Haag in Annapolis.Audio obtained by The Baltimore Banner captured the defendant appearing confused as the allegations against him were explained.
“I don’t remember any of what happened,” Lundeen said during the hearing.
When he was told that he was accused of assaulting a police officer, he appeared to struggle to understand the allegation.
“I assaulted a police officer? Is that what it says?” he asked.
He then explained that he did not have his glasses with him.
“I don’t have glasses.”
According to Lundeen, the last thing he could remember from the flight was speaking with Cahn.
He repeatedly insisted that he had no memory of what happened afterward.
There was, however, one detail he did recall.
Lundeen said he had consumed “two screwdrivers,” a mixed alcoholic drink.
But that account differed from what one passenger remembered.
Mejia said he recalled hearing a flight attendant say that Lundeen had only been given one drink.
As the allegations were read to him, Lundeen appeared to grasp the seriousness of what had happened.
“Oh my God. What a mess… I don’t remember any of it,” he was heard saying in the audio.
The consequences followed him off the plane
The incident also had immediate consequences for Lundeen’s professional life.Long Realty in Tucson, Arizona, where he had worked, announced after the incident that it had “ended its affiliation” with him.
The company said the conduct described in reports was inconsistent with the standards it expected from individuals associated with the organization.
For Lundeen, the incident had now created consequences on several fronts.
“I got a double whammy for my trip. Well, now it’s a triple whammy,” he reportedly said.
He was released on his own recognizance and ordered not to consume alcohol or drugs, other than prescribed medication.
His next court appearance is scheduled for October 19 in Maryland.
A flight that passengers are unlikely to forget
What began as a routine commercial flight from Dallas to Newark turned into an extraordinary midair incident involving alleged physical assault, offensive language, passenger intervention and an emergency diversion.For those sitting in first class, the experience was reportedly frightening and chaotic.
For Lundeen, however, his own account centers on something very different: a claimed lack of memory about the events that led to his arrest.
The allegations against him will ultimately be addressed through the legal process.
Meanwhile, the images and accounts of a passenger being restrained with zip ties and duct tape—and another passenger sitting on his lap to prevent him from breaking free—have drawn widespread attention.
The incident has also raised questions about what passengers should do when a confrontation becomes dangerous at 30,000 feet, where there is nowhere to simply walk away from the situation.
For the passengers involved, the priority appeared to be bringing the disturbance under control until the aircraft could safely reach the ground.
And for everyone aboard Flight 618 that day, a routine journey became a flight they are unlikely to forget.
What do you think about the way the passengers handled the situation? Share your thoughts in the comments.
