Layne Arthur Lundeen was 67 years old and had been selling homes in Tucson, Arizona, for more than a decade when something broke at 10 thousand meters above the ground.
The American Airlines flight departed Dallas for Newark on September 3, 2026, but never reached its destination. Lundeen attacked the passenger next to him, hit a woman who tried to stop him, and hurled racist and homophobic insults in front of the entire plane. The crew had no other option: passengers such as Richard Olenick, the owner of a shooting range in New Jersey, and Juan Mejía, a retired police officer who ended up being bitten during the struggle, restrained him with zip ties and duct tape until the plane made an emergency landing in Baltimore.
They handcuffed him as soon as he touched down. And at Long Realty Company, the real estate firm where he had worked since 2013, they did not wait even a day: its CEO, Kevin Kaplan, confirmed that they severed all ties with him as soon as the video became known. Lundeen faces assault charges and has a court hearing on October 19.