The passenger duct-taped to his seat on a diverted American Airlines flight was indicted on federal charges.

An indictment is a grand jury's finding that there is enough to charge. It is not a conviction. The duct tape went viral in September. The federal case is about what prosecutors say happened before passengers restrained him. Twenty years is the statutory ceiling on the interference count. It is not a sentence.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026, that Layne Lundeen, 67, of Tucson, Arizona, had been indicted on federal charges of interfering with flight crew members and attendants and assault by striking, beating, and wounding, CBS Baltimore and WBAL reported. The office said he faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the interference count and up to one year on the assault count if convicted.

The charges stem from American Airlines Flight 618 from Dallas to Newark on Sept. 3, WBAL reported. The plane made an emergency landing at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport because of an unruly passenger. Maryland Transportation Authority Police told WBAL that responding officers "observed a male passenger being restrained to his seat by duct tape and his hands secured by zip ties." Photos of the restrained passenger spread widely online after the flight.

CBS Baltimore quoted the federal release: "Specifically, Lundeen made physical contact with the flight attendant or flight crew member; disregarded instructions from flight attendants or flight crew members; directed abusive and aggressive language, including racial slurs, towards flight attendants or flight crew members; and engaged in disruptive and hostile behavior toward flight attendants, flight crew members, and other passengers." Those are the government's allegations. A jury has not heard them.

WBAL reported that TMZ first reported the incident, and that, according to TMZ, the man hit the passenger seated next to him and struck that passenger's computer, then pushed a woman who came to help, before three other men confronted him. A passenger, Michelle Ng Reyes, told NBC New York in September that he was "freaking out" and would not calm down. The woman told reporters another passenger had to sit on him so the plane could land safely, WBAL reported. Those are witness accounts. They have not been tested in court.

Lundeen was arrested in September and initially charged by the Maryland Transportation Authority Police with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct, CBS Baltimore reported. The station, citing its media partner the Baltimore Banner, reported that Lundeen told officials at his initial hearing that he had two screwdriver drinks and did not remember any of the incident. That is his account, as reported.

CBS Baltimore reported that Lundeen had said at the time that he was a managing partner at Long Realty. The company said in a Facebook statement that when it learned of the incident, "it promptly ended the affiliation with the individual," the station reported. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.