Air passenger held down with duct tape on American Airlines flight after ‘racist meltdown’ revealed

The man who had to be held down and duct-taped to his chair has been fired from his executive job at an estate agents.

Arthur Lundeen, 67, was let go by Long Realty following his alleged racist and homophobic outburst aboard American Airlines Flight 618 on September 3.

Lundeen’s LinkedIn said he was a vice president at Long Realty in Tucson, however, his profile had been deleted from the site.

His LinkedIn profile has also since been deleted.

His flight had to be diverted after he allegedly called a flight attendant the ‘N’ word and made homophobic remarks.

A female passenger attempted to help, but the unruly passenger allegedly pushed her, triggering three male passengers to get up in a bid to restrain him. They were handed cable ties and duct-tape by staff as Lundeen allegedly bit one male passenger and attempted to bite another.

‘Just like a light switch, all of a sudden, it went from quiet to yelling and chaos,’ Juan Mejia, a retired policer officer on his way home from a gun show said.

With the help of passenger Richard Olenick, Juan managed to restrain the man by using zip ties and wrapping him in duct tape.

Kevin Kaplan, CEO of Long Companies, said: ‘While real estate agents are independent contractors, the appropriate conduct of anyone associated with Long Realty is paramount to us.

‘To that end, the individual in question is no longer associated with Long Realty.’

American Airlines said: ‘The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority and we do not tolerate violence.

‘We thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding.’

The FBI confirmed Lundeen was arrested by Maryland Transportation Police.

He was charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct, TMZ reported.

Lundeen was released with no cash bail and has a trial set for October 19.

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