JetBlue captain subdued after erratic behavior
Updated 7:15 p.m. ET
(AP/CBS) LAS VEGAS — Passengers onboard a JetBlue flight bound for Las Vegas on Tuesday tackled and restrained the plane's captain after he was locked out of the cockpit by crew members, screamed 'they're going to take us down' and ranted about al Qaeda and a possible bomb onboard, passengers said.
The captain of JetBlue Airways Flight 191 from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport had a "medical situation" and the co-pilot diverted the plane to land in Amarillo, Texas, around 10 a.m., the airline said. A U.S. official confirmed to CBS News that the captain in question was Clayton Osbon, a veteran pilot with JetBlue.
Passengers said the captain stormed out of the cockpit and started acting erratically and seemed disoriented. Tony Antolino, a 40-year-old executive for a security firm, said the captain walked to the back of the plane after crew members tried to calm him down. He then began yelling about an unspecified threat linked to Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.
"They're going to take us down. They're taking us down. They're going to take us down. Say the Lord's prayer. Say the Lord's prayer," the captain screamed, according to Antolino.
Josh Redick, a passenger sitting near the middle of the plane, said the captain seemed "irate" and was "spouting off about Afghanistan and souls and al Qaeda."
The captain then tried to re-enter the cockpit, but he was not allowed back in. The captain had been exhibiting "erratic behavior," so the co-pilot locked him out of the cockpit, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
Gabriel Schonzeit, who was sitting in the third row, said the captain said there could be a bomb on board the flight.
"He started screaming about al Qaeda and possibly a bomb on the plane and Iraq and Iran and about how we were all going down," Schonzeit told the Amarillo Globe-News.
Antolino, who said he sat in the 10th row, said he and three others tackled the captain as he ran for the cockpit door, pinned him and held him down while the plane landed at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport.
"That's how we landed," he said. "There were four of us on top of him. ... Everybody else kind of took a seat and that's how we landed."
David Gonzales was one of the tacklers.
"Once I got involved, and I was able to get him down, it was a team effort. Everybody came in and we were able to apprehend him. There was a guy who calmed everybody down. It was all very professional," said Gonzales.
The captain "looked like he was having a panic attack" and was screaming during the incident, a passenger told CBS News in a telephone interview.
Another passenger said in text messages to CBS News that the captain was restrained on the ground until the plane landed. The passenger wrote that at least four other passengers helped subdue the captain.
A different federal official told CBS News that the incident doesn't appear to be related to terrorism but the FBI is investigating. The police officer, who works for the New York Police Department, was traveling as a passenger.
An off-duty airline captain who just happened to be a passenger on the flight went to the flight deck and took over the duties of the ill captain "once on the ground," the airline said in a statement. It didn't elaborate.
Shane Helton, 39, of Quinlan, Okla., said he saw emergency and security personnel coming on and off the plane as it sat on the tarmac at the Amarillo airport.
"They pulled one guy out on a stretcher and put him in an ambulance," said Helton, who went to the airport with his fiancDee to see one of her sons off as he joined the Navy.
Helton said the ambulance then sat on the tarmac next to the plane for more than 30 minutes.
JetBlue said the ill captain was taken to a medical facility in Amarillo.
Authorities interviewed each of the passengers once they had landed and left the plane, said 22-year-old passenger Grant Heppes, of New York City.
The FBI was coordinating an investigation with the airport police, Amarillo police, the FAA and the Transportation Safety Administration, said agency spokeswoman Lydia Maese in Dallas. She declined to say if any arrests had been made.
As a result of the incident, the FAA is likely to review the captain's medical certificate — essentially a seal of approval that the pilot is healthy. All pilots working for scheduled airlines must have a first-class medical certificate. The certificates are required to be renewed every year if the pilot is under 40, every six months if 40 or over.
To obtain a certificate, the pilot must receive a physical examination by an FAA-designated medical examiner that includes questions about the pilot's psychological condition. The medical examiner can order additional psychological testing.
Pilots are required to disclose all existing physical and psychological conditions and medications.
In 2008, an Air Canada co-pilot had a mental breakdown on a flight from Toronto to London and was forcibly removed from the cockpit, restrained and sedated. A flight attendant with flying experience helped the pilot safely make an emergency landing in Ireland, and none of the 146 passengers and nine crew members on board were injured.
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However, what they don't mention is that at this interview as well as JetBlue is that "Harm & Hurt" did occurred, This was the first struggle that took the other passenger top get involved, having said that to be on the 2nd roll I got involved as Clayton throw his flight attendant against the serving table and that's when I got involved but I never touch Clayton until the injured flight attendant asked me to "Help" her, that gave me the approval to put Clayton in a chokehold, as Clayton had the upper hand on the other flight attendant to open the plane door at least that where I thought he was going next by his looks in his face so I had to stop him from injuring me or anyone else.
Congress and the Politian's need to get involved and regulate these Pilot screening, in 2008 Canada had a similar issues from London to Toronto where the co-pilot had to be forcefully had to be removed and in a 1999 where the pilot was force to be removed & also from an Egypt air co-pilot under a lot of stress downed the plane killing 217 people.
Today I struggle from the nightmares as if JetBlue Flight continues to flash everyday as if it happened yesterday, I had lumbar spine operation in December 2011 where I am now on more pain medication, my wife and kid are awaking me as a result of my yelling to grab Calyton foot as I am still on his back and where I landed on him until we safely on the ground and take control of the whole Clayton ordeal, so a lot has not been said on the JetBlue flight 191 and JetBlue has refused to any of our letters.
Regarding employee training in the face of emergencies, Dave Barger, CEO and President of JetBue, praised the co-pilot and the crew for how they handled the situation. He specifically mentioned how the training in crises situations paid off. He also praised the passengers.
Then there is customer training. Typically this is where a company trains their customers on how to use their products. For example, most passengers will use an airline's website to book their tickets. The airlines gave incentives to book online, eventually getting passengers to try booking their tickets through their website. In a sense, they trained the customer on how to buy.
But, JetBlue didn't train the passengers. The events of 911 and the media did. The terrorist's attacks of 911 are forever etched into our memories. Numerous television interviews covered how passengers might react to terrorist situations. These trained the passengers on what to do in a similar situation. Knowing what could happen on the JetBlue flight, passengers risked their lives to tackle Osbon to the floor and did what was necessary to eliminate the threat.
Shep Hyken, customer service expert(http://www.hyken.com)
www.Privacy-Toolz.com
"The certificates are required to be renewed every year if the pilot is under 40, every six months if 40 or over."
The FAA must figure out a way to verify that a pilot is Ok to fly a plane before it takes off the ground, period. 911 and other psychosis symptoms produce erratic behaviors that are fairly easy to distinguish from prior flying errors (taken from black box information for example) and mood detection from specialized personnel trained at detecting the problem and co-workers.
And if the individual goes through the screening process unscathed there will have to be some kind of plan that cuts him off from the controls (if he is still in the cockpit and refuses to let go of the wheel) and transfers the piloting to the plane's auto-pilot until the emergency is resolved.