Gun Range Owner Duct-Tapes Crazy Passenger In Midair Meltdown

A New Jersey gun range owner helped duct-tape an agitated airline passenger after he allegedly became violent and hurled racist slurs, forcing an American Airlines flight to divert.

Richard O’Lenick, 53, owner of Gun for Hire in Woodland Park, is recounting his harrowing experience restraining Arizona real estate agent Arthur Layne Lundeen, 67, who allegedly called a flight attendant the N-word and went on a profanity-laced rant about gay people.

“I don’t love to fly, and he just looks at me and goes, ‘We’re all going to die. This plane is going to crash,’” O’Lenick told The Daily Voice. “And I said, ‘You’re going to meet a couple of new friends when we land.’”

O’Lenick and his sales manager, retired Weehawken police officer Juan Mejia, helped flight attendants restrain Lundeen with duct tape and zip ties provided by the flight crew.

“I knew we were going to be doing this together. It wasn’t a thought,” O’Lenick told The Daily Voice. “It was a pretty volatile situation for a while. Safety was definitely a concern, and not knowing where it was going and what the intent was.”

Lundeen was arrested after the Dallas-to-Newark flight was diverted to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. He was charged with disorderly conduct and second-degree assault, according to ABC News.

Images first obtained by TMZ show Lundeen looking “like a mummy” after he was wrapped in duct tape and strapped to his seat. His hands and head appear to have been taped down, while one image shows a bloodied right forearm. His face is blurred.

Video captured during the incident shows crew members and passengers restraining Lundeen during an apparent midair struggle.

“You’re crazy, man,” one person is heard telling the unruly passenger.

“Relax, relax … stop it!” another person is heard saying.

The confrontation erupted Thursday night aboard American Airlines Flight 618. Lundeen, who witnesses said appeared intoxicated, began yelling at a male passenger seated nearby before shouting about Jesus and people going to hell.

A black flight attendant then approached Lundeen in an apparent attempt to defuse the situation. Lundeen allegedly responded by calling the flight attendant the N-word and hurling an anti-gay slur at him, The Daily Wire reported.

Lundeen then allegedly turned on fellow passengers, hitting the man seated next to him and striking the man’s computer.

Flight attendants brought duct tape and zip ties as O’Lenick, Mejia, and another passenger worked to secure Lundeen to his seat. They eventually taped his head after he allegedly tried to bite O’Lenick. They refused to tape his mouth shut, fearing it could interfere with his breathing.

“He was still fighting us through the entire process,” O’Lenick told The Daily Voice.

The flight landed at BWI shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday, when Maryland Transportation Authority Police took Lundeen into custody. He was later released on his own recognizance and is due back in court on October 19.

Following the viral altercation, Lundeen’s Tucson-based real estate company, Long Realty, ended its affiliation with him.

“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,” the company said in a Facebook statement. “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.”

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