Midair incident: unruly passenger taped to his seat on US flight

An unruly passenger on an American Airlines flight was reportedly taped to his seat after a series of alleged incidents, including insults, an assault and damage to another passenger’s computer.

The domestic flight, American Airlines Flight 618 from Dallas to Newark, diverted to Baltimore so FBI officers could remove the man from the aircraft. An airline spokesperson confirmed the incident to a local NBC television station and to TMZ, which first reported it.

A photograph published by CBS on Instagram appeared to show strips of tape running from the man’s head to his hands. TMZ reported that he appeared to be drunk. The passenger allegedly called a seatmate a homophobic slur, later racially insulted a flight attendant, struck the seatmate and damaged the person’s computer.

Other passengers reportedly intervened before crew members restrained the man with tape. The incident took place on Thursday, according to the reports.