JetBlue pilot charged with interfering with crew

Updated 6:44 PM ET

(CBS/AP) Federal prosecutors late Wednesday filed charges against the JetBlue pilot who had an apparent psychiatric episode, yelling about a bomb, telling passengers to pray, and banging on the cockpit door on a flight bound for Las Vegas a day earlier.

Clayton Frederick Osbon, 49, is charged in U.S. district court with interfering with inflight crew members, the same charge sometimes levied against unruly passengers or those who refuse to turn off electronics or comply with other instructions.

Osbon "moved through the aircraft and was disruptive and had to be subdued and forcibly restrained from re-entering the cockpit," the criminal complaint states.

Osbon told his co-pilot that "things don't matter" shortly after JetBlue Flight 191 from New York departed Tuesday, according to an affidavit. Court documents say Osbon told the plane's first officer that "we're not going to Vegas" and began what he described as a sermon.

Federal criminal complaint against Clayton Osbon

"The (first officer) became really worried when Osbon said `we need to take a leap of faith,"' according to the sworn affidavit given by an FBI agent. "Osbon started trying to correlate completely unrelated numbers like different radio frequencies, and he talked about sins in Las Vegas."

Passengers wrestled Osbon to the ground after he left the cockpit and later sprinted down the cabin yelling and urging everyone to pray. The plane made an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas. No one on board was seriously hurt.

Mark Sellouk, one of the passengers on that flight, was interviewed by CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan about that moment up in the air.

"I'm looking at this happening," he said, "and [Osbon's] getting more and more violent, and now he's starting to say, 'Pray to Jesus," and he started yelling inside to the flight deck, 'Throttle to idle, throttle to idle! Bring this plane down! Al Qaeda is here!'"

Cowan asked Sellouk what was going through his mind. "I'm thinking of my family, my kids and my wife, and I'm looking at this guy," Sellouk said. "I'm thinking, 'This is how it's going to end."

Under federal law, a conviction for interference with a flight crew or attendants can bring up to 20 years in prison. The offense is defined as assaulting or intimidating the crew, interfering with its duties or diminishes its ability to operate the plane.

The charges came as new details emerged Wednesday about the bizarre behavior Osbon exhibited during the flight, including unnecessarily fiddling with the plane's controls and complaining of "too much noise" into the radio monitored by air traffic controllers and other pilots, CBS News investigative producer Pat Milton reports.

A source who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed new details to Milton of what happened in the cockpit before Osbon behaved erratically and was subdued in the cabin by passengers of Flight 191 between New York and Las Vegas. Osbon was taken into FBI custody in Amarillo, Texas, after the plane made an emergency landing there.

In addition to complaining about the noise into the radio, Osbon also said to "keep the chatter down." CBS News' Carter Yang reports that Osbon was improperly pressing buttons on the flight panel and "speaking incoherently" in the cockpit, according to a source.

JetBlue said Wednesday that Osbon "has been removed from active duty" pending an investigation involving multiple federal and local agencies, Yang reports.

Osbon has been a pilot for JetBlue since 2000. The company's CEO and president Dave Barger told NBC's "Today" show that Osbon is a "consummate professional" whom he has "personally known" for years.

JetBlue captain could face charges from meltdown
JetBlue fliers: Captain was "deranged," "erratic"
Passengers: JetBlue pilot reached for plane door

On Wednesday, Osbon was being guarded by Amarillo police officers while undergoing between two and three days of psychiatric testing to try and determine what may have led to what passengers described as a meltdown, Milton reports.

According to Federal Aviation Administration documents, Osbon's last medical exam was in December, and he was cleared to fly, Yang reports. The exam is primarily a physical, but "psychological condition" is also taken into account, and the medical examiner can order additional testing. If Osbon showed signs of mental instability in the exam, he wouldn't have received clearance to fly.

CBS News senior correspondent John Miller reported that authorities haven't found any known associations between Osbon and terrorist groups.

On "CBS This Morning" Wednesday, Miller said that the investigation has shifted its focus to what medical reasons, if any, could explain Osbon's erratic behavior.

(At left, watch Miller's conversation with co-hosts Erica Hill, Gayle King and Charlie Rose)

"What the FBI needs to find out now is everything they can about this guy and what could have caused this, either physiologically, mentally, chemically," Miller said.

Investigators have spoken with Osbon's wife, who told them he didn't display any signs of abnormal behavior in front of her, Milton reports. Investigators learned from other interviews that Osbon had a great reputation, was highly regarded among his colleagues and assisted in JetBlue's pilot training program.

Osbon's behavior Tuesday prompted the flight's co-pilot to convince Osbon to leave the cockpit by saying something like he should splash water on his face. While Osbon was in the lavatory, the co-pilot instructed a flight attendant on the plane's intercom system to immediately bring into the cockpit an off-duty captain who was traveling as a passenger.

With the off-duty captain inside the cockpit, the co-pilot changed the combination lock to the door before Osbon could return.

On "CBS This Morning," passengers Tony Antolino and retired New York police Sgt. Paul Babakitis described Osbon as "deranged," "emotionally disturbed" and "erratic" while he was in the cabin.

"He started ranting about Iraq, Iran, 'they're going to take us down,' uh, 'say the Lord's prayer,'" said Antolino, "and then at that point we literally just tackled him to the ground and restrained him."

Babakitis wasn't the only person with a law enforcement background on the flight. Also among the passengers was a corrections guard who Milton reports was traveling to Las Vegas to attend an international security conference.

[VanessaJT]

I have flown with Clayton many times. He taught my father how to fly and myself. He was a good friend. He was always a cool cat. Nothing ever ruffled him. Very cool in the cockpit. He was very safety conscious and a gifted pilot. This was completely and totally out of his character. All that know him are completely shocked. I DO believe there is more to the story....but, I also think that something was wrong enough that he felt he needed to get someone's attention....very quickly...and the only way he could do it was....be totally out of character....where someone would listen....I hope they listen... and do accordingly. We are praying for him. He is a good man and a good American.

[jghut]

A lawyer I once knew that had a break with reality - a manic episode, unplugged every electrical appliance in his home because of the "noise." He went to a local restaurant, got a broom, and went down the street sweeping the sidewalk. He was fine the day before. The sheriff apprehended him and took him to the mental health ward where he was put on medication. He was back at work in two weeks.

I think something like this happened to the captain. He could have had a dip in blood sugar that caused him to go crazy. I am sure he had a medical problem, and he should first, by all means, be allowed to get treatment and recover.

[flightguy101]

The pilot as of recent was working out at a gym and reportedly been using some form of PED. I hate to say "roid" rage...but something to that effect was a side effect and at least part of the cause. Blood toxicology will probably root this out. Whether or not the public finds out is another story...

[marisawalls]

"Mental illness impacts the lives of at least one in four adults and one in 10 children--or 60 million Americans--NAMI will work every day to save every life!"
Please DO YOURSELF AND JET BLUE PILOT A HUGE AND GRAND FAVOR
visit NAMI.ORG National Alliance on Mental Illness for additional education and awareness regarding mental health issues, problems, and illnesses -
We have a huge problem in AMERICAN and the GLOBAL WORLD regarding mental health issues, problems, and illnesses, how they happen, why they happen, who they can happen to, what to do when someone you know and care about is experiencing a mental health breakdown etc. all of this leads to - LACK OF AWARENESS!!!!
We have the biggest problem concerning MENTAL HEALTH and that is LACK OF AWARENESS ....

60 MILLION AMERICANS and the next could be you, your siblings, friends, spouses, relatives, neighbors, the pilot, the stewardess, the soldier, etc.... do you know what to look for? do you know what to do?

Ignorance is bliss - STIGMA is DISCRIMINATION!

[celmem]

I think MacDerb is having the same problem that the poor pilot has. Incoherant, irrational. Stroke or something?

[karek40]

If you commit murder and can get the jury to accept you were temporarily insane you get off, this pilot was obviously not capable of rational thought. Why waste the time charging him?

[realist2010]

MacDerb - quit the conservative "my hair is on fire" act and get yourself a mental health evaluation. There is something wrong.

[smittyc]

Nothing surprises me about the airline industry, charging someone who suffered a mental breakdown will be thrown out of court. Hope the pilot recovers.

[Transatlantique]

They haven't charged that woman for flipping out on the AA flight a month ago, have they? Why this guy? Even if he did obstruct crew, if he's mentally ill that is indeed an excuse for treatment, not prosecution.

[signseeker1717]

This is considerably more serious. She was a flight attendant; he was the PILOT, in charge of FLYING the plane.

He began his meltdown by resisting direction from Air Traffic Control, and turned off the radio in the cockpit. The potential for danger to the passengers and the safety of the plane was MUCH greater. They probably had no choice but to charge him.

He is currently hospitalized. I doubt he'll ever fly again, whether or not there is a prosecution.

[Jarroyo19]

I honestly believe that this is a case of delirium...This can be a side effect of a lot of medications...when we was complainig of a "a lot noise", I believe that he was having a headache and and axiety atack...he is a patent, not a criminal...unfortunally is not like he was behind a cash register...

[rwsmith29456]

Stuff like this makes me feel that the terrorists are winning. I don't suppose this guy will fly any more.