Retired Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara and two off-duty sheriff's deputies physically restrained a belligerent passenger aboard a United Airlines flight from Newark to Fort Lauderdale, after flight attendants spent nearly 45 minutes trying to calm the man down.

The passenger aboard United Flight 1364 had grown increasingly aggressive after crew members refused to serve him more alcohol, Fox News Digital reported. He berated the four flight attendants, shouted profanities, made threatening remarks, and repeatedly tried to get out of his seat, all while the Boeing 737-900 carried 174 passengers and six crew members at roughly 35,000 feet.

Then he lunged at the crew. That is when O'Hara, a 25-year law enforcement veteran, and two off-duty Bergen County, New Jersey, sheriff's deputies stepped in, grabbed the man, and locked him in plastic flex cuffs.

Forty-five minutes of verbal abuse before the lunge

O'Hara told Fox News Digital that the confrontation built slowly. For roughly the last 45 minutes of the flight, crew members tried everything they could to talk the passenger down.

"About like for the last 45 minutes of the flight... all the flight attendants came over, and they were incredible. Incredibly professional, just trying to talk to this guy to de-escalate things."

The retired chief said the man's language toward the female crew members was relentless and degrading. He described it bluntly:

"It was infuriating to hear a man speak to these women who were just incredibly professional and trying to keep everybody safe that way for so long. And, finally, he just kind of got up and lunged towards them."

Two passengers seated near the back of the aircraft, later identified as the off-duty Bergen County deputies, grabbed the man from behind. O'Hara rushed forward. Together, the three men restrained the passenger with plastic flex cuffs and secured him back in his seat for the remainder of the flight.

O'Hara did not know the two other men were law enforcement until after the plane landed. He learned that detail, along with the fact that the outburst had been triggered by the crew's decision to cut off alcohol service, from the Broward Sheriff's Office following the arrest.

The incident is the latest in a string of disruptive and dangerous passenger episodes aboard commercial flights, a pattern that has tested the limits of what crew members and fellow passengers can handle at altitude.

O'Hara weighed the danger of a sustained fight in a confined cabin

Even with 25 years of policing behind him, O'Hara said the situation gave him pause. A physical confrontation inside a pressurized cabin at cruising altitude is nothing like a street encounter.

"I started to think, 'Well, geez, what are we going to do if somebody really wants to fight the whole time?' It's dangerous. We're in such a confined space like that, and someone's going to act out like that because you don't know potentially what the motivation might be."

His wife, Wafiyyah O'Hara, a lieutenant with the Newark Police Department, was seated nearby throughout the confrontation. O'Hara said her presence was both a worry and a reassurance.

"The only thing I was thinking about was if this goes bad, I know at least she has my back."

After the plane landed in Fort Lauderdale, law enforcement met the aircraft and arrested the passenger. As of Thursday afternoon, authorities had not publicly identified the man or announced specific criminal charges. Fox News Digital reached out to both the Broward Sheriff's Office and the Federal Aviation Administration for additional comment; neither agency's response was reported.

Video of police escorting the passenger off the aircraft circulated widely on social media afterward. O'Hara noted that the footage did not capture the full scope of the crew's nearly hour-long effort to manage the situation before it turned physical.

United Airlines thanked crew and passengers, but broader questions remain

United Airlines confirmed the incident in a statement:

"Local law enforcement met United Flight 1364 upon its arrival in Fort Lauderdale to address an unruly passenger. We thank our crew and customers for assisting with the situation and helping ensure the safety of everyone onboard."

The airline identified the aircraft as a Boeing 737-900 carrying 174 passengers, two pilots, and four flight attendants.

Wafiyyah O'Hara posted a tribute to her husband on social media after the flight. Her message referenced "federal agents" assisting in the arrest, a detail not independently confirmed by other sources in the reporting. She wrote, in part: "Leadership isn't just about the job you hold, it's about being willing to help when others need it. Grateful everyone on board arrived safely."

O'Hara himself used the moment to make a broader point. With the 25th anniversary of September 11 approaching, he said ordinary passengers have a responsibility to act when a situation turns dangerous.

"We're coming up on the 25th anniversary of September 11. I would hope everybody in this country now knows that if things are escalating to the point where there's going to be some kind of violence, I think every citizen that is able to has a duty to try and help to stop it."

Aviation security threats have not been limited to cabin disturbances. Airports themselves have faced alarming breaches, including a recent episode in which a trespasser breached security at Denver's airport and was struck by a plane on the runway.

Better restraints and training could help crews handle what is becoming routine

O'Hara praised the flight attendants repeatedly but said the incident exposed a gap. Crew members spent the better part of an hour absorbing verbal abuse with no clear tools to end the confrontation short of a physical takedown by willing passengers.

"No one should take the kind of verbal abuse that they did. They were absolute professionals trying to keep everybody safe."

He suggested airlines consider equipping flights with proper restraints and providing at least basic training so crew or designated passengers could safely secure a disruptive individual before the situation escalates to a lunge.

"I think it would be good to make sure that they have restraints that are available, that at least some people are trained in some way to use them safely to get somebody restrained if they needed to."

The New York Post reported that the episode underscored the dangers of in-flight violence and the growing reliance on fellow passengers to fill a security role that no one formally assigned them.

Federal agencies have also faced scrutiny over aviation safety protocols in other contexts. The FAA and NTSB recently opened an investigation into a safety breach at Reagan National Airport involving a commercial jet that departed without a required hold, a reminder that the system's weak points extend well beyond unruly passengers.

No injuries were reported aboard United Flight 1364. But 174 passengers spent the better part of an hour watching a man shout threats and profanities at a crew of four flight attendants, and the situation ended only because three men with law enforcement training happened to be on the plane.

That is not a security plan. That is luck. And luck is not a strategy the flying public should have to count on.