This happened this week on a Jetblue flight from New York to Las Vegas (USA). Clayton O., the captain working JetBlue Flight 191, arrived at JFK later than he should have for the flight, and missed the crew briefing. As the plane was leaving JFK and climbing in altitude in its scheduled five-hour flight, the captain said something to the first officer about being evaluated by someone, but the first officer did not know what he meant. The captain then talked about his church and the need to "focus" and asked the first officer to take the controls and work the radios.
The captain began talking about religion, but according to the first officer, his statements were not coherent. He also said "things just don´t matter" wich made the first officer become concerned. The captain then yelled over the radio to air traffic control and instructed them to be quiet. After that, he turned off the radios in the aircraft, dimmed his monitors, and sternly admonished the first officer for trying to talk on the radio. When the captain said "we need to take a leap of faith", the first officer stated that he became very worried. The captain told him that "we´re not going to Vegas" and began giving what the first officer described as a sermon.
The first officer then suggested they invite the off-duty JetBlue captain who was on board the flight into the cockpit. However, the captain abruptly left the cockpit to go to the forward lavatory. That alarmed the rest of the flight crew, because he didn´t follow the company´s protocol for leaving the cockpit. When flight attendants met the captain and asked him what was wrong, he became aggressive and banged on the door of the occupied lavatory, saying he needed to get inside. While the captain was in the lavatory, at the request of the first officer, a flight attendant brought the off-duty captain to the cockpit, where he assisted the first officer with the remainder of the flight. When the captain exited the lavatory, he began talking to flight attendants, mentioning "150 souls on board". He walked to the rear of the aircraft but along the way stopped and asked a male passenger if he had a problem. The captain than sprinted back to the forward galley and tried to enter his code to re-enter the cockpit. Although, with no success, as the first officer had changed the code, locking him out. When the first officer announced over the public address system an order to restrain the captain, several passengers assisted and brought the captain down in the forward galley (as you can perfectly see in the video), where he continued to yell comments about Jesus, September 11, Iraq, Iran, and terrorists.
The first officer declared an emergency and diverted the aircraft to Amarillo, landing with passengers still restraining the captain in the galley. After landing, the captain was removed from the aircraft by the FBI and taken to a facility in the Northwest Texas Healthcare System in Amarillo where he is still being evaluated and treated. Hes was immediately suspended from duty, and was filled charges by the Federal Authorities for interfering with flight crew. As for the 135 passengers, a replacement A320 was dispatched to Amarillo and they all arrived Las Vegas with a delay of 6.5 hours. They were reimbursed and received a credit for twice the value of their tickets. And, ironically enough, most passengers were heading in to Vegas for an International Security Convention.
I guess, nobody wants to believe that pilots are just people with emotional and physical problems like the rest of the earthbound people. They are supposed to be better. Unfortunately the stress they work under and the fatigue they operate in can take hold with pilots just as it can with anyone.
The captain began talking about religion, but according to the first officer, his statements were not coherent. He also said "things just don´t matter" wich made the first officer become concerned. The captain then yelled over the radio to air traffic control and instructed them to be quiet. After that, he turned off the radios in the aircraft, dimmed his monitors, and sternly admonished the first officer for trying to talk on the radio. When the captain said "we need to take a leap of faith", the first officer stated that he became very worried. The captain told him that "we´re not going to Vegas" and began giving what the first officer described as a sermon.
The first officer then suggested they invite the off-duty JetBlue captain who was on board the flight into the cockpit. However, the captain abruptly left the cockpit to go to the forward lavatory. That alarmed the rest of the flight crew, because he didn´t follow the company´s protocol for leaving the cockpit. When flight attendants met the captain and asked him what was wrong, he became aggressive and banged on the door of the occupied lavatory, saying he needed to get inside. While the captain was in the lavatory, at the request of the first officer, a flight attendant brought the off-duty captain to the cockpit, where he assisted the first officer with the remainder of the flight. When the captain exited the lavatory, he began talking to flight attendants, mentioning "150 souls on board". He walked to the rear of the aircraft but along the way stopped and asked a male passenger if he had a problem. The captain than sprinted back to the forward galley and tried to enter his code to re-enter the cockpit. Although, with no success, as the first officer had changed the code, locking him out. When the first officer announced over the public address system an order to restrain the captain, several passengers assisted and brought the captain down in the forward galley (as you can perfectly see in the video), where he continued to yell comments about Jesus, September 11, Iraq, Iran, and terrorists.
The first officer declared an emergency and diverted the aircraft to Amarillo, landing with passengers still restraining the captain in the galley. After landing, the captain was removed from the aircraft by the FBI and taken to a facility in the Northwest Texas Healthcare System in Amarillo where he is still being evaluated and treated. Hes was immediately suspended from duty, and was filled charges by the Federal Authorities for interfering with flight crew. As for the 135 passengers, a replacement A320 was dispatched to Amarillo and they all arrived Las Vegas with a delay of 6.5 hours. They were reimbursed and received a credit for twice the value of their tickets. And, ironically enough, most passengers were heading in to Vegas for an International Security Convention.
I guess, nobody wants to believe that pilots are just people with emotional and physical problems like the rest of the earthbound people. They are supposed to be better. Unfortunately the stress they work under and the fatigue they operate in can take hold with pilots just as it can with anyone.
And by the way, JetBlues reputation seems to be going down; last year the "crazy" flight attendant who shut a slide, grabbed a beer and went home while he was on duty after having a discussion with a passenger and now a captain going nuts mid-flight. What´s next?
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