#NJ flyer forces plane to land mid-flight after attacking passengers

A United Airlines plane to Miami was forced to land mid-flight after an unruly New Jersey man attacked two other passengers, authorities say.

John Yurkovich Jr., 45, had to be restrained with zip ties — and a doctor on board was forced to use “Benadryl via injection” in his buttocks to help calm him down, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.

Yurkovich was arrested after the plane — which took off from Newark, NJ, just after 8 a.m. Wednesday — was forced to land in South Carolina “due to a disruptive passenger,” court documents say.

According to the FBI complaint, Yurkovich was carrying 2 grams of methamphetamine at the time.

He allegedly became agitated after going to the bathroom.

“When Yurkovich returned to his seat, Yurkovich was acting erratic and appeared to be off-balance,” the complaint states. “When he was seated, Yurkovich yelled out loud, capturing the attention of several other passengers in the surrounding area.”

At one point, the suspect was seen getting what appeared to be pills from his carry-on and ingesting them, the complaint says.

A passenger sitting next to him put up his hands “to brace himself from Yurkovich falling on him,” prompting the suspect to take off his mask and start yelling at the person, authorities said.

“Don’t f–king put your hands on me! I’ll f–king punch you in the face,” Yurkovich allegedly screamed.

Yurkovich then started punching the male passenger at least seven times, breaking his glasses and cutting open his ear, causing excessive bleeding, according to the court docs.

The victim needed seven stitches for the cut to his left ear, which the FBI complaint says was from the series of punches.

A few passengers tried to restrain Yurkovich, and one suffered a broken nose in the process, the complaint states.

The unruly passenger was charged with federal assault charges and criminal acts on an aircraft, as well as state charges for alleged drug possession.

Yurkovich’s lawyer, Rose Mary Parham, told the News & Observer in a statement, “This entire incident is very uncharacteristic of John. He is a loving husband and father and successful businessman.”