The moment drunken passenger is taped to his seat during flight to New York after 'trying to choke one woman and ranting the plane was going to crash'



A drunken passenger on a New York-bound flight from Iceland was duct-taped to his seat by fellow passengers after attacking one woman, spitting on other passengers and screaming the plane was going to crash.

A friend of one of the observing passengers, Andy Ellwood of New York, posted a picture of the subdued flyer to his Tumblr with an account of the incident.

The 'passenger drank all of his duty free liquor on the flight from Iceland to JFK yesterday,' Ellwood wrote.

Restrained: The unidentified man's fellow passengers taped him to a chair after he went on a drunken rampage, spitting, screaming about a crash, and even attempting to choke one woman

Long flight: Witnesses said the man began acting crazy four hours into the six hour flight to New York

'When he became unruly, (i.e. trying to choke the woman next to him and screaming the plane was going to crash), fellow passengers subdued him and tie him up for the rest of the flight. He was escorted off the flight by police when it landed.'

The photo was sent to Ellwood because he and his friend liked to trade 'travel war stories' he said.



His friend who observed the in-flight meltdown did not want to be identified or talk with the media.

The 46-year-old man, whose name has not yet been released, was arrested upon landing at JFK on Thursday.



He had an Icelandic passport, according to Port Authority spokesman, Ron Marsico .

The passenger's tirade began after several hours in the air when there were about two hours left on the flight , reported Icelandic news outlet Mbl.is.

Reporter: The picture was taken from New York man Andy Ellwood's Tumblr where he posted an account of the man's drunken behavior

The flight: A image of the flight in question captured the plane as it flew to New York with a drunken man terrifying his fellow passengers

IcelandAir's Vice President of Corporate Communication, Guðjón Arngrímsson, confirmed to reporters that the man was acting dang erously, but would not comment on the picture. The unruly passenger was transported to a hospital in Queens after being taken off the plane, said Marsico of the Port Authority. Prosecutors declined to charge him for what he did because too many passengers were reluctant to discuss his outburst with authorities, the New York Post reported. Coincidentally, police arrested an American Eagle pilot after he failed a blood-alcohol breath test before he was scheduled to fly from Minneapolis to New York City Thursday.

Kolbjorn Jarle Kristiansen was running pre-flight checks at approximately 6.30am when police, acting on a tip, boarded the plane and made him take a breathalyzer.



He was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of alcohol.



'These incidents are very rare,' airport spokesman Patrick Hogan told the Post. 'But every few years, we’ll have a case. We have nearly half a million flights come in and out and we have one case every three or four years.'

Passengers had yet to board for the flight, which was delayed two and a half hours while a replacement pilot was found, according to Matt Miller, a spokesman for the airline's sister company, American Airlines.

Kristiansen is suspended pending an investigation.

