LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A man biting his fellow passengers on a JetBlue flight forced the plane to divert to Las Vegas, where the man was taken into police custody.

Passengers on the flight say that somewhere over Utah, the man suddenly began biting his seatmates – whom he apparently knew – and hitting others on a Sunday flight from Los Angeles International Airport to New York-JFK.

Doctors on the flight tried to help by examining the passenger, but were also attacked. Another passenger said he jumped in to help restrain the man.

“I grabbed his hands behind his back and held him there while the flight attendants put the restraints on him,” said a man who asked to only be identified as Tom. “At that point, he started yelling and tried to come towards the flight attendant, behind me, at the time. I really had a hell of a time keeping him in place there.”

The pilot turned the plane around and landed in Las Vegas, where Jet Blue says the “customer was escorted off the aircraft. Remaining customers resumed their scheduled flight to New York without further incident.”