JetBlue pilot charged following ‘breakdown’ on board
The US pilot who suffered an apparent mental breakdown during a JetBlue flight has been charged with interfering with cabin crew.
Captain Clayton Osbon reportedly told his co-pilot "we’re not going to Vegas" and started ranting about a bomb.
He had to be restrained by passengers before the co-pilot took over the controls and made an emergency landing in Texas, three-and-a-half hours into the flight from New York to Las Vegas.
An off-duty pilot, who happened to be on board, helped land the plane.
The airline later issued a statement saying there had been a "medical situation" onboard involving the captain, who has since been taken to hospital.
The airline’s chief executive David Barger later told NBC News that there was nothing in Mr Osbon’s records that suggested he could be a risk.
"I’ve known the captain personally for a long period of time and there’s been no indication of this at all," he told reporters.
Some of the 135 passengers onboard flight 191 to Las Vegas said they saw the pilot storming through the aircraft, ranting about bomb threats, Iraq, Afghanistan and al-Qaida before cabin crew tried to calm him down at the back of the plane.
One news report said he shouted: "They’re going to take us down. They’re taking us down. They’re going to take us down. Say the Lord’s prayer."
The FBI is coordinating an investigation with the airport police, Amarillo police, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Safety Administration.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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