Airplane Captain Breaks Down, Media Shifts Focus
Several newspapers and news stations have reported that JetBlue captain Clayton Osbon has been brought to hospital after having amental breakdown of some sort while on the job. Reportedly, Osbon was locked out of the cocpit by the first officer when the captain stepped out to use the lavatory, because the first officer was concerned about the captain’s behaviour. When the captain returned to the cocpit, he found the door locked and had a very violent reaction this.
According to reports, the captain started to yell, mentioning terrorists and bombs, while taking rus at the cocpit door. The stewardess then called for the assistance of the passengers in restraining the agitated captain, and several “burly men” stepped up and wrestled the captain to the ground, one of them a former prison guard who employed a choke hold on the captain. This was done with some success, and the captain either passed out or was incapacitated to the point where he collapsed to the ground.
Mainstream media reports that the “burly men” onboard the aircraft were security professionals on their way to the ISC West (International Security Conference) in Las Vegas, and were prison guards, an ex-cop, and other in the field. They kept the captain effectively secured until the plane made an emergency landing in Amarillo, where the captain was restrained and taken away in an ambulance. The Daily Mail Online has a lengthy story on the incident.
Their summary:
- Clayton Osbon, 49, had been JetBlue captain for 12 years
- Came out of toilet telling passengers: ‘Say your prayers, say your prayers’
- Screamed ‘Iraq, al-Qaeda, terrorism, we’re all going down’
- Passengers watched as he tried to break into cockpit after was locked out
- Four passengers, including a retired NYPD sergeant, jumped the man
- Packed flight from JFK to Las Vegas made emergency landing in Amarillo
The article then goes on to mention a curious tidbit from a former FOX NEWS reporter – see if you can spot it in the quoted:
Clayton Frederick Osbon, 49, screamed ‘say your prayers, say your prayers’ at horrified passengers after running up and down the aisle shouting ‘Iraq, al-Qaeda, terrorism, we’re all going down.’
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…told USA Today that Osbon had started ‘shouting, “Iraq, al-Qaeda, terrorism, we’re all going down” during his mid-flight meltdown…
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…told the network passengers could hear the pilot using the words ‘Afghanistan’ and ‘Israel’ during the commotion.
You’re right. It’s the last one. Here’s the whole quote:
Laurie Dhue, a former Fox News Channel anchor who was on board the flight, told the network passengers could hear the pilot using the words ‘Afghanistan‘ and ‘Israel‘ during the commotion.
Now, why is it that the only one reporting hearing “Afghanistan” and “Israel” during the “commotion” was a Fox News anchor? Why are the other passengers only reporting hearing the captain saying Iraq, terrorism (plus one passenger hearing the word “Iran”)? Could it possibly be that this (former) Fox News anchor is trying to further some other cause? Possibly. However insignificant this might be, it is still yet another example of how inaccurate Fox News and its so-called “anchors” are.
Newsmedia have put a lot of focus on what captain Osbon was saying during his apparent break-down. Fact is, such a breakdown could have resulted in any number of outcomes, in which the captain could have shouted anything, and done just about anything. Reading anything into the words he used during this incident is meaningless – the man could just as well have been shouting “Sweden! We’re swimming! Croatia! Clean your rosary!” and it would have made just as much sense as what he actually said.
The important lesson that we need to draw from this incident is that security onboard airplanes is fragile, and it only takes one mentally strained individual for the flight to become a potential nightmare. Passengers stepped in when the stewardess asked for help, which is a very long step in the right direction, where civilians will not tolerate “commotion” on their flights. A hijacker might havea ery hard time accomplishing anything if he/she is met with active resistance from actual passengers, not just air marshalls.
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