Pilot, passenger mid-air freakouts put JetBlue and US Airways on alert

[txradioguy]

A disgruntled passenger aboard a US Airways flight from North Carolina to Florida was reportedly arrested Tuesday night after witnesses say she attacked crew members before being wrestled to the floor.

The latest incident comes on the heels of a JetBlue captain who had to be subdued by passengers after he apparently acted erratically during an early-morning flight Tuesday from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Las Vegas.

The woman aboard the US Airways flight from Charlotte to Fort Myers reportedly kicked, scratched and spit on crew members. The passenger was later arrested.

A spokeswoman would not provide more details until the arrest report is released.

Meanwhile, more information is beginning to emerge about the circumstances aboard JetBlue Flight 191, which was forced to make an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas, during its flight to Las Vegas.

The JetBlue captain's co-workers tried to calm him as he became more jittery, coaxing him to the back of the plane while making sure that he didn't return to the plane's controls.

Sources identified the captain to Fox News as Clayton Osbon, a JetBlue flight standards captain from Richmond Hill, Ga. He was taken into custody when the flight landed, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he faces any charges.

Osbon had ranted about Al Qaeda and a possible bomb onboard before being subdued, passengers said. Laurie Dhue, a former Fox News anchor who was on board the flight, said she also heard the captain mention "Afghanistan" and "Israel" during his rant.

Then, he sprinted up the cabin's aisle -- ranting about a bomb, screaming "They're going to take us down!" and urging confused passengers to pray.

"Nobody knew what to do because he is the captain of the plane," said Don Davis, the owner of a Ronkonkoma, New York-based wireless broadband manufacturer who was traveling to Sin City for a security industry conference.

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.

"A group of us just jumped up instinctually and grabbed him and put him to the ground," Antolino said.

Dave Barger, JetBlue’s CEO and president, says the captain who ranted about a bomb on a flight to Las Vegas is a "consummate professional" whom he has personally known for years. He said there is nothing in the captain's record to indicate he could be a risk.

Josh Redick, who was sitting near the middle of the plane, said the captain seemed "irate" and was "spouting off about Afghanistan and souls and Al Qaeda."


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/28/pilot-passenger-mid-air-freakouts-put-airlines-on-alert/

[wasp69]

I hate flying. 

[zeitgeist]

I hate flying. 

I use to love to fly now I loath it.  Unless I absolutely have to be there overnight I prefer taking the motor home.

[dixierose]

Sources identified the captain to Fox News as Clayton Osbon, a JetBlue flight standards captain from Richmond Hill, Ga. He was taken into custody when the flight landed, but it wasn't immediately clear whether he faces any charges.

I live in that town. I was surprised to see it on the news.

[Evil_Conservative]

I'm thankful the plane was landed safely and nobody was injured.

[DefiantSix]

I hate flying. 

I love flying - mostly because I refuse to fly commercial any more.  Gotta love having that  itty bitty square of plastic from the FAA in my wallet.  No groping by the TSA pervs, no whacked out passengers, no Islamofascists pushing decency and courtesy to the very limits to see if they can provoke a discrimination lawsuit for CAIR.  None of that.  Just me and the family and the plane and the wide open sky.

[Chris_]

I love flying - mostly because I refuse to fly commercial any more.  Gotta love having that  itty bitty square of plastic from the FAA in my wallet.  No groping by the TSA pervs, no whacked out passengers, no Islamofascists pushing decency and courtesy to the very limits to see if they can provoke a discrimination lawsuit for CAIR.  None of that.  Just me and the family and the plane and the wide open sky.

Bastard.

I suppose it depends on the plane.  I flew on a DC-6 the other week... to say it was a little cramped would have been kind.  I don't have the same problem on a 737.

[DefiantSix]

Bastard.

I suppose it depends on the plane. I flew on a DC-6 the other week... to say it was a little cramped would have been kind.  I don't have the same problem on a 737.

What?  Were you flying anti-sub patrol for the Navy?

I trust you fat-fingered when you tried to hit the "9" key?

[Chris_]

Sorry, it was probably a DC-9.

I could have sworn it was another model.

[DefiantSix]

Sorry, it was probably a DC-9.

I could have sworn it was another model.

5-across seating, engines screaming at you from just the other side of the pressure bulkhead, cramped quarters throughout the cabin.  Nope, DC-9 sounds about right.

Gimme one of these, any day...

[Chris_]

Seating was 3-2 across (2-2 in first class) and the engine was in the tail (or on the aft) of the plane.  It wasn't very large.

[DefiantSix]

Seating was 3-2 across (2-2 in first class) and the engine was in the tail (or on the aft) of the plane.  It wasn't very large.

Yep, looked something like this one, at least on the outside.

And here's a typical cabin for one of those turkeys:

[Chris_]

That's it.  I looked up the flight online... it was a DC-9-50.

Those seats felt as narrow as they look.

[vesta111]

Lucky me, I have developed over the years problems with my ears and pressure,  no SCUBA diving for me or flying unless to the Islands where the Pilot can make a gradual decent.   Bostons Logan caused both my ears and nose to bleed on decent.    Heading for the Mountains driving 60 mph causes my ears to pop and ring.   

For some reason be it speed or elevation I can ride a train with no problem.   

Sat next to a woman on a coast to coast flight that had had dental work done a few days before flying, don't know how this worked but she went into spasms from pain in her jaw, sinuses and ears.------The pain caused her to Cry out very loudly.   

So here is a pilot that went nuts, happens to the best of us at times but we are not 30,000 feet above earth in charge of the souls of 75+ people .    Could this be a medical problem, well I have seen diabetics get weird and fight first responders and refuse to eat or drink a cracker or juice to bring back up their sugar.    Where does onset of any disease hit and why ???

All these RX prescriptions for any and every problem that advertise on TV with warnings of side effects of sleepiness, thoughts of suicide and stroke or death, who knows what can and has happend to people that take them.

What will these drugs do to people with the combination of other drugs or environmental factors.

My prayers are with this pilot that went nuts,   Thank GOD the crew and passengers responded to get them all back to earth safe. 

Meanwhile I keep both feet firmly on Terra Ferma, or on the water, I can swim but cannot fly.     

 

[Rebel]

5-across seating, engines screaming at you from just the other side of the pressure bulkhead, cramped quarters throughout the cabin.  Nope, DC-9 sounds about right.

Gimme one of these, any day...

IIRC, that pusher didn't work out too well for John Denver. ;-)

[wasp69]

I love flying

 

[DefiantSix]

IIRC, that pusher didn't work out too well for John Denver. ;-)

Two things:

(1) John Denver flew a different aircraft than that one; and

(2) Pilot Error is just as exacting and unforgiving (and as often fatal) in a Cessna 172 as in a Vans RV-10.


"Superior pilots use their superior judgement to avoid circumstances where they have to use their superior skills to pull their asses out of the fire."

[Duke Nukum]

I'll bet his computer crashed and he was trying to get his iphone to work with itunes on another computer without losing all his non-AppleTopia(TM) approved data and music.