JetBlue pilot's competency for trial in question

(CBS/AP) LUBBOCK, Texas - A federal judge has ordered a psychiatric exam for the JetBlue Airways pilot accused of interfering with a flight crew when he disrupted a Las Vegas-bound flight after he left the cockpit and screamed about religion and terrorists.

The order signed by a federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, on Wednesday will send Clayton Osbon to a medical facility for federal prisoners for tests to determine if he was legally sane on March 27. That's when passengers wrestled Osbon to the floor after witnesses said he ran through the cabin yelling about Jesus and al Qaeda.

The exam also will determine if he's competent to stand trial.

CBS News correspondent Stephanie Lambidakis reports that prosecutors had filed a motion saying there is reasonable cause to believe that Osbon suffers from "a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent" to stand trail. Prosecutors had filed charges against Osbon one week ago.

The prosecution's motion filed Wednesday comes the day Osbon's attorney asked another judge to reschedule a Thursday detention hearing. The hearing will be Monday.

On Sunday, Osbon's wife put out a statement saying "It is our belief, as Clayton's family, that while he was clearly distressed, he was not intentionally violent toward anyone."

JetBlue pilot leaves hospital, appears in court
JetBlue pilot's case in Texas court
Wife: JetBlue pilot not "intentionally violent"

Osbon order on initial appearance (pdf)
Osbon motion for detention (pdf)
JetBlue black boxes head to D.C. for analysis
What led to JetBlue pilot's midair meltdown?

[alaris3k]

is this country insane? isn't it obvious this guy is/was mentally ill? They think he made this up WHILE the plane was on the ground? Duhhh derrrrrr, maybe they can spend millions to determine if he's insane or not, that's the ticket.

[solorister]

The pilot might have suffered sudden angsiety attack , that he could not control ,but if that he would not have tryed to get back into the copit .He most have gone little mad without doing on purpose ,must have al quada back in his mind for all this time sense 9/11 ,scared of dying ?

[hemusbull]

I don't care now is this one sane...I'm much more concerned was he sane prior boarding the plane as ...a captain. And here is a big question - how to detect pilots incapable to do their duties. The public must be protected by the autorities from situations like this one here.

[pat606]

If this pilot would have had a heart attack and lost consciousness while sitting in the cockpit, most likely no charges for reckless endangerment of the flight would have been filed. As a former psychiatric R.N. the pilot's behavior appears to be a mental health issue such as "brief reactive psychosis". The definition(as provided by the National Library of Medicine at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001529.htm) is "Brief reactive psychosis is a sudden, short-term display of psychotic behavior, such as hallucinations or delusions, that occurs with a stressful event." "triggered by extreme stress (such as a traumatic accident or loss of a loved one), and is followed by a return to the previous level of function. The person may or may not be aware of the strange behavior. Symptoms of brief reactive psychosis may include the following:
> Disorganized behavior
> False ideas about what is taking place (delusions)
> Hearing or seeing things that aren't real (hallucinations)
> Strange speech or language
The symptoms are not due to alcohol or other drug abuse and they last longer than a day, but less than a month.

I am disappointed that our society has not yet fully embraced and recognized the validity of mental illness as evidenced by the charges and by court declaring that the pilot may have a "defect". Thankfully the charges seem to be on hold at the moment. My sympathy goes out to this pilot and his family who are surely going through a very difficult and trying time. I pray that he will not be charged and that he and his family will experience healing in the days ahead.
Can we as a nation come together and be compassionate about an issue without spewing vitriole and hatred? Let's hope so because it's in our best interest and I believe we are capable of doing that!

[bobkat258]

I'm afraid mental illness is still in the dark ages in this country. It is still seen as a personality flaw rather than an illness such as cancer or diabetes. It seems to me that there has not been enough research or study being done in this field of medicine.

[venusvegasvada]

Whatever. Either way, this guy's flying career is toast.

He's gonna be singing the "Jet-Blue's" from here on out.

The only question is weather it's going to be from his own sofa or some padded cell somewhere.

[andie52]

During required checkups every six months or one year, airline pilots are subjected to a battery of physical tests, but the doctor usually doesn't ask about their mental state, experts and pilots say. And many pilots would probably hesitate to tell the truth, for fear it would be a career-ender.

[Transatlantique]

Wasn't a woman detained for psychological reasons for flipping out on AA? Where is her judge? Why haven't we heard more about that?

[fredisalive]

No hes not competent to stand trail but can fly your rear into flames! What bonehead airline! Never fly them again!

[ConSense]

How do you come to the conclusion that the airline had anything to do with this? Pilots are required to take periodic physical exams and meet other requirements to keep flying - do you know of ANY indication of mental illness before his meltdown on the plane? Didja ever think that, since he faces 15 years in jail, his attorney might be playing up the "mental illness" angle?