JetBlue Airways Flight 191

JetBlue Airways Flight 191

An Airbus A320-200, the type of aircraft involved in the incident.
Incident summary
Date March 27, 2012
Summary Diversion due to in-flight crew incident
Site Near Amarillo, Texas
35°11′57″N 101°50′43″W / 35.19917°N 101.84528°WCoordinates: 35°11′57″N 101°50′43″W / 35.19917°N 101.84528°W
Passengers 135[1]
Survivors 135 (all)
Aircraft type Airbus A320-232
Aircraft name 100% Blue
Operator JetBlue Airways
Registration N796JB
Flight origin John F. Kennedy Airport
Destination McCarran International Airport

JetBlue Flight 191 was a scheduled domestic commercial passenger flight on airline JetBlue from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City to McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pilot incident in 2012

On March 27, 2012, Captain Clayton Osbon was locked out of the cockpit by First Officer Jason Dowd and was subdued by passengers after he started acting erratically and apparently suffered from a panic attack. The aircraft was then diverted to Amarillo, Texas. Osbon received medical treatment by Northwest Texas Healthcare System.[2]

Osbon was charged with "interference with a flight crew."[3][4][5]

The first officer grew concerned when Osbon made comments such as "We need to take a leap of faith", "We're not going to Vegas", and "I can't be held responsible when this plane crashes." Osbon began giving what the first officer described as a sermon. Later, in the cabin, Osbon railed at passengers about Jesus, al-Qaida and a possible bomb on board. Alarmed passengers tackled him and tied him up with seat belt extenders until the plane landed about 20 minutes later.[6]

The 49-year-old[7] Osbon was suspended from work after being with JetBlue for 12 years.[2] He had attended Carnegie Mellon University and graduated in 1987 from Nathaniel Hawthorne College,[7] an aeronautics and aviation college located in New Hampshire founded in 1962, but which closed in 1988.[8][9][10]

On Tuesday, July 3, 2012, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity of the charge of interference with the flight crew by an Amarillo, Texas-based federal judge, Judge Mary Lou Robinson. Mr. Osbon was then ordered to be held pending a further investigation; he was then immediately transferred to a mental health facility in Fort Worth for additional treatment.[11]

After Captain Osbon was evaluated in a federal mental health facility in North Carolina, on November 9, 2012, US District Judge Robinson freed him under the provisions that he continue mental health treatment, follow a prescribed medication regimen, and meet a variety of other conditions. Osbon must continue to be monitored by his probation officer for an undetermined amount of time. “This is a bad situation for you and your family, but you are very fortunate to have the type of immediate support you have,” Robinson said. “Good Luck, Mr. Osbon.”[12]

On March 27, 2015, Osbon filed a suit against JetBlue for $14.9 million, claiming that the airline did not ensure he was fit to fly, which caused him public embarrassment and the loss of his career and reputation, and endangered the lives of the crew and the passengers.[13] The suit was filed several days after Germanwings Flight 9525 crash, in which the co-pilot deliberately crashed the plane killing all the people aboard.

References

  1. ↑ "JetBlue pilot Clayton Osbon charged over flight chaos". BBC. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 MacLaggan, Corrie (2 April 2012). "JetBlue pilot's wife says husband 'not intentionally violent'". Reuters. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  3. ↑ FBI — JetBlue Pilot Charged with Interference with a Flight Crew
  4. ↑ Osbon Complaint Affidavit
  5. ↑ Nicas, Jack; Pasztor, Andy (28 March 2012). "JetBlue Captain's 'Medical Situation' Diverts Flight". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "JetBlue pilot's unraveling baffles friends". March 29, 2012.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Pilot soon gave signs of trouble". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "Home". Hawthornecollege.tripod.com. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  9. ↑ http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=YobBs5eqkC0&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DYobBs5eqkC0
  10. ↑ Nathaniel Hawthorne College at Closed Colleges
  11. ↑ "Unruly JetBlue pilot found not guilty by reason of insanity". CNN.com. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  12. ↑ "Judge frees Richmond Hill JetBlue pilot who disrupted flight". savannahnow.com. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  13. ↑ "JetBlue Pilot Who Caused Flight Diversion Sues Airline". Bloomberg. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.