Jonathan Burton

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Jonathan Burton (1981 - August 11, 2000) was a Las Vegas resident who stormed the cockpit door of Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City; the 19-year-old was subdued by eight other passengers with such force that he died of asphyxiation.[1] The death was initially believed to have been a heart attack.

There were conflicting reports of Burton's air rage and exactly what happened on the plane. CBS News reported:

The death has been ruled a homicide, but the U.S. Attorney's office said the 19-year-old's death was unintentional and that criminal charges would not be filed. But federal investigators hope to talk to a Canadian man who told CBS News excessive force was used to subdue Burton. And the dead man's family said the autopsy and witnesses suggest Southwest Airlines was negligent in allowing the passengers to kill him. [2]

Time ran an article by Timothy Roche, "Homicide in the Sky":

After he had been subdued, an off-duty police officer in the rear of the plane offered to help. A row of seats was cleared so the officer and another man could guard Burton during the plane's landing. But as Burton was being led to the back, he flailed his arms, pushed his captors aside and struck the off-duty officer in the mouth, gashing his lip and splattering blood inside the cabin. Others jumped up to subdue him. Women screamed; children began to cry. Eight men eventually wrestled the 6-ft., 190-lb. Burton to the floor. "It is over," a man told him, yelling obscenities. "You are not getting up." But the mob may have got carried away. Dean Harvey, who was sitting in the third row with his wife and 11-month-old daughter, says a burly man jumped repeatedly onto Burton's chest. "You've got the guy subdued, what more do you want?" Harvey says he told the man, who jumped twice more before stopping. Harvey's account has not been confirmed by airline officials or other passengers. When the plane landed, airport police and medics were waiting at the jetway. Burton was unconscious but still officially alive. He died later at the hospital. The autopsy found bruises and scratches from blunt-force trauma to his face, neck and torso. "He was essentially beaten from the top of his head down to his ankles," says Kent Spence, his mother's attorney. "He died of positional and compressional asphyxia." [3]

The medical examiner's autopsy report stated that when police arrived, "Mr. Burton was lying face down with at least one individual standing on his neck." [4]

Four months later, an episode of CSI featured a plot paralleling Burton's death, “Unfriendly Skies”, which was telecast December 8, 2000. A year later, playwright Lucas Rockwood turned the incident into a play, Fifty Minutes, which was performed a few weeks prior to the 9/11 attacks. [5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Janofsky, Michael. "Neighbors' Gentler View Of Man Killed on Plane," The New York Times, September 23, 2000.
  2. ^ Maher, Maureen. "A Death on Descent," CBS News, September 21, 2000.
  3. ^ Roche, Timothy. "Homicide in the Sky," Time, September 24, 2000.
  4. ^ Janofsky, Michael. "U.S. Declines to Prosecute in Case of Man Beaten to Death on Jet," The New York Times, September 21, 2000
  5. ^ Tanzer, Joshua. "Fighter Flight" review of Fifty Minutes, August 19, 2001.

[edit] External links