The Brief An American Airlines passenger detailed the wild moments an unruly flyer from Arizona launched a violent mid-flight attack before being duct-taped to his seat. Richard Olenick and a retired police officer stepped in at 30,000 feet after Layne Lundeen, 67, allegedly choked a seatmate and began biting rescuers. Lundeen was arrested by police upon landing and immediately fired from his job at a Tucson real estate firm.



An Arizona real estate agent was fired after an alleged violent, slur-fueled outburst aboard an American Airlines flight forced hero passengers to zip-tie and duct-tape him to his seat midair.

What we know:

The Sept. 3 flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Newark was forced to make an emergency landing in Baltimore after 67-year-old Tucson resident Layne Arthur Lundeen allegedly attacked a seatmate, bit rescuers and hurled racial and homophobic slurs. Maryland Transportation Authority Police arrested him upon landing, and his employer fired him shortly after.

 Everything was fine, until it wasn't'

The backstory:

Local store manager Richard Olenick was flying home from a work convention with his coworker, retired police officer Juan Mejia, when chaos broke out about two hours into the flight. Olenick said the cabin was quiet until the suspect suddenly began shouting obscenities and slurs at a flight attendant.

Passenger Richard Olenick helps keep an unruly traveler restrained with duct tape and zip ties aboard an American Airlines flight following an alleged violent mid-flight attack. (Courtesy Richard Olenick)

 Everything was fine, until it wasn't,  Olenick told FOX 10.

The verbal abuse quickly turned physical when Lundeen allegedly grabbed the neck of the passenger sitting next to him and began strangling him. When a woman stepped in to stop the attack, Lundeen reportedly hit her, prompting Olenick and Mejia to rush down the aisle to intervene.

 When you're on a plane, it's different than when you are on the ground, you can't retreat, there's not a lot of options,  Olenick explained.

Mejia pulled the victim to safety while Olenick squeezed between the seats 

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