Amarillo, TX – Judge: Disruptive JetBlue Screaming Pilot to Stand Trial

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    FILE - JetBlue captain Clayton Osbon being tended to by emergency workers (AP Photo/Steve Douglas)Amarillo, TX – A judge ruled Friday that a JetBlue Airways pilot who left the cockpit during a flight and screamed about religion and terrorists is mentally competent to stand trial.

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    U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson issued her ruling in Amarillo after hearing evidence about 49-year-old Clayton F. Osbon’s mental competency.

    Osbon recently underwent a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation at a medical facility to see if he could assist properly in his defense and to determine if he was sane at the time of the alleged offense. Robinson ruled Friday that the evaluation should be sealed.

    He was indicted in April on one charge of interfering with a flight crew. The offense is defined as assaulting or intimidating the crew, interfering with its duties or diminishes its ability to operate the plane.

    If convicted, Osbon could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

    The allegation stems from an in-air incident March 27 after the plane left New York for Las Vegas.

    Osbon, of Richmond Hills, Ga., who has been with JetBlue since 2000, allegedly ran through the plane’s cabin yelling about Jesus and al-Qaida. The first officer locked him out of the cockpit and passengers wrestled him to the floor before the plane made an emergency landing in Amarillo.

    Shortly after leaving New York on the five-hour flight, Osbon started rambling about religion to the first officer, according to court documents. He scolded air traffic controllers to quiet down, then turned off the radios altogether, and dimmed the monitors in the cockpit. He said aloud that “things just don’t matter” and encouraged his co-pilot that they take a leap of faith.

    “We’re not going to Vegas,” Osbon said, according to the affidavit.

    Osbon was suspended after the incident. JetBlue Airways spokeswoman Sharon Jones said Thursday that Osbon remains an employee and his status is inactive.


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    7 Comments
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    11 years ago

    Good!

    MordyS
    MordyS
    11 years ago

    20 years??
    You’re going to put him in company with murderers and rapists??
    Ridiculous

    Unasked_Question
    Unasked_Question
    11 years ago

    Yes, that’s where we got to.

    The only sector that’s still creating jobs is the “justice” dep, prison system. With all the jobs going to china and india, we have no choice.
    We must focus on the jobs that we CAN create… TSA groppers, correctional officers, etc…

    amicable
    amicable
    11 years ago

    What a sad sad day for american justice.

    Prosecuting a man that clearly had a mental relaps is wrong, against the Torah and the only people deserving punishment are the ones that are wrongfully prosecuting him.

    11 years ago

    “He said aloud that “things just don’t matter” and encouraged his co-pilot that they take a leap of faith.”
    I guess he got crazy after listening to Lipa’s new album.

    11 years ago

    To #’s 3 and 5- Obviously, the two of you do not understand the seriousness of this case; our prisons of full of people with mental problems. Having a mental problem, does not excuse criminal activity. This mentally disturbed pilot could have crashed the plane, and killed everybody on board. This has occurred before (Egypt Air flight over the Atlantic in 1998), and a Japanese commercial flight over Japan. Also, there was a case in the late 1990’s, whereby a minority pilot on Federal Express attacked the flight crew with a hammer, and tried to crash the plane. He claimed that he was being discriminated against, and wanted to get back at FedX. In any event, that pilot was sentenced to life. In the case of the Jet Blue Pilot, whereas he may get a reduced prison sentence, and may not do any jail time at all, I guarantee everyone, that he will never again fly as a commercial pilot.