In March, a JetBlue Airways pilot lost his marbles and ran around the plane screaming about Al-Qaida, terrorism, and Jesus. It's scary when a passenger talks about bombs, but it's a whole other story when the person flying the plane is screaming about them like a madman.
The pilot had to be restrained as passengers feared for their lives. Being that an airplane pilot is responsible for the lives of those on board their aircraft as it flies 35,000 feet above ground, passengers were not too pleased with the pilot's antics. On Wednesday, they filed a lawsuit against JetBlue.
In the lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court in Queens, the passengers claims JetBlue was "grossly negligent" for letting Captain Clayon Osbon pilot the plane, as reported by the Associated Press. The 10 plaintiffs are arguing that an unfit pilot should not have been flying and they are suing for unspecified damages for emotional distress.
On March 27, JetBlue flight 191 left New York and was headed to Las Vegas, but had to make an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas after the pilot had an onboard meltdown. Osbon was hospitalized after suffering from bruised ribs when passengers attempted to restrain him, but no one on board was hurt.
As Osbon began his rant, he was locked out of the cockpit, but the New York Daily News reported that the copilot said Osbon's strange behavior began as soon as they started flying. The copilot told federal investigators that Osbon was yelling at the air traffic controllers and telling them to be quiet as he gave a religious sermon.
The lawsuit listed some of Osbon's rants, saying he was "yelling about September 11th, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, al-Qaida and terrorists." He also made comments such as: "we're all going down", "you better start praying right now", "I'm going to show you Iraq and Iran right now", "there's a bomb on board" ''the plane will never make it to Vegas."
Osbon faces federal charges for his behavior during the incident. On Friday, he is expected to appear at a mental competency hearing in Texas.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
