Passengers who helped restrain disruptive man on American Airlines flight describe chaos

A passenger on a flight to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey was so disruptive, he had to be duct-taped to his seat.

Witnesses who were on board the American Airlines flight on Thursday night told CBS News New York his behavior was putting everyone at risk.

Juan Mejia, a retired law enforcement officer, and Richard Olenick say the chaos unfolded about two hours into their flight from Dallas, Texas.

"Just like a light switch, all of a sudden, it went from quiet to yelling and chaos," Mejia said. "I turned around to look, and the poor gentleman that was sitting next to him in the aisle seat, the individual had his hands around his neck and was, like, assaulting him."

"He called one of the flight attendants the N word," Olenick said.

"Everyone who was in first class was basically victimized by his spewing of hatred and the discrimination, and the hostility, and vulgarness that was coming out of his mouth," Mejia said.

Mejia and Olenick, who were sitting two rows in front of the unruly passenger, say they jumped in to help restrain the man using duct tape and zip ties provided by a flight attendant.

The men say the passenger fought back.

"He bit my hand. He didn't break skin, just left teeth marks on my hand. We were covered in his blood," Mejia said. "He was bleeding quite a bit from cuts that he inflicted on himself."

Mejia and Olenick say they didn't notice anything off about the passenger prior to his outburst, and they don't know what may have triggered him, but believe alcohol may have played a role.

"I remember one of the stewardesses saying they only gave him one drink," Mejia said.

Both men praised the flight attendants for remaining calm during the situation, despite the insults and the chaos.

Because of the incident, the pilot diverted the flight to Baltimore. Mejia and Olenick say the man was restrained for about 15 minutes until the plane landed and local police and the FBI took over.

American Airlines said in a statement: "On Sept. 3, American Airlines flight 618 diverted to Baltimore (BWI) due to a disruptive customer. Upon arrival, law enforcement met the aircraft and assisted with deplaning the customer before the flight continued to its destination. The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority and we do not tolerate violence. We thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding."

The FBI says Maryland Transportation Authority Police arrested and booked the passenger on state charges. The plane then continued to Newark.

Federal Aviation Administation data shows over 1,160 unruly passenger incidents have been reported so far this year. That's compared to about 1,600 incidents for all of last year.

Travel experts say these cases are becoming all too common and the actions taken on this flight are legal and within protocol.

"It's a common protocol. If they are that unruly, they are getting the duct tape out and they are getting the zip ties out because they've gotta restrain them and they've gotta keep them in that position until they divert," CBS News travel expert Peter Greenberg said.

"This is sort of what's going to happen if somebody is so disruptive that they can't be kept in the seat and present a threat on an airplane," CBS News senior transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave said.