Maryland Transportation Authority Police identified him as Arthur Lundeen, 67, of Arizona, and arrested him after Flight 618 landed at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, ABC News reported.

He was booked on state charges of second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.

Court records cited by Fox Baltimore show he was released on his own recognizance, with a trial set for Oct. 19.

The FBI's Baltimore field office is separately investigating what happened in the air and is consulting the U.S. attorney's office for the District of Maryland on whether federal charges will follow. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has opened its own investigation.

The disturbance began about two hours after the plane left Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, passengers told CBS News New York.

American Airlines flight 718 takes off from Miami, Florida, U.S. Dec. 29, 2020. Photo by Reuters

Juan Mejia, a retired law enforcement officer seated two rows ahead, told CBS the cabin went from quiet to shouting in an instant.

Witnesses said the man appeared drunk and started yelling at the passenger in the aisle seat next to him.

When a flight attendant came over to defuse the situation, he responded with a racial slur and anti-gay remarks, according to TMZ, which obtained video and photographs from the cabin.

He then struck the passenger beside him and hit that man's laptop, witnesses said. A woman who tried to intervene was also struck, according to accounts given to CBS.

Flight attendants handed duct tape and zip ties to three male passengers, who held the man down and secured him to his seat, TMZ reported.

Photographs show tape wound around his wrists, torso and head.

"He bit my hand," Mejia told CBS News New York, saying the man left teeth marks without breaking the skin and was bleeding from cuts he had inflicted on himself.

Mejia told ABC News the aim was to control him rather than injure him, so the situation would not escalate further.

Law enforcement met the aircraft at the gate and removed him before the flight continued to Newark, American Airlines said.

Officers spotted an open wound on Lundeen's arm and had paramedics clear him before taking him into custody, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.

Airlines have reported more than 1,160 unruly passenger incidents to the FAA so far in 2026, CNN reported.

Beyond criminal penalties, the agency can seek fines above $43,000 against passengers who assault, threaten, intimidate or interfere with crew members.