Jet Blue pilot has meltdown on flight, subdued by passengers

**nancydrew** · March 27th, 2012, 09:59 PM

Originally Posted by fgg

they're only on certain planes. you know how many we'd have to have in order for there to be one on every commercial flight? a million billion.

LOL you can tell I didn't even think my comment through. For some reason I had it in my head all flights had Air Marshalls on board.

**witchcurlgirl** · March 27th, 2012, 10:05 PM

**Kat Scorp** · March 28th, 2012, 01:51 AM

Opening aeroplane doors in-flight came up during a season one episode of Supernatural. It's impossible for a human to overcome the internal pressure forcing the door closed:

Pressurization exerts a very strong force against the inside of the plane, sealing the doors shut and preventing them from being opened in flight. You can twist the handle and tug on it all you want, but it's impossible for a human, or even several humans, to overcome this pressure

USATODAY.com - Doors sealed shut

... in spite of what you see on movies and t.v., these morons can push and pull all they damn want - the door wont open.

And on an episode of Leverage, it was said that only one in every hundred American planes have an Air Marshall. I watch too many tv shows.

**Lalique** · March 28th, 2012, 05:55 AM

Update at 4:02 p.m. ET: The flight was "packed with burly men" heading to the 2012 International Security Conference in Las Vegas, the New York Daily News says.

Well, that was convenient.

**MohandasKGanja** · March 28th, 2012, 07:21 AM

After listening to more of the reports this morning, the copilot is the true hero. Accurately sensed that something wasn't write with the pilot, tricked him into leaving the cockpit, then locked the door behind him.

It kind of reminds me of a reverse situation with an airline - a crash a while back (EgyptAir 990), where the pilot left the cockpit for a minute, and while he was gone, his copilot took the flight controls and pointed the plane down. By the time, the pilot got back into the cockpit and saw what was happening, it was too late to pull the plane out of the dive. In that case, the sane pilot left the cockpit and the unstable one was at the controls.

**twitchy2.0** · March 28th, 2012, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by Lalique

Update at 4:02 p.m. ET: The flight was "packed with burly men" heading to the 2012 International Security Conference in Las Vegas, the New York Daily News says.

Well, that was convenient.

TOO convenient!

*passes out tinfoil*

**witchcurlgirl** · March 28th, 2012, 07:49 AM

My local news reported there were a few retired cops on the flight who helped subdue the pilot, they were headed out to Vegas together.

**BBDSP** · March 28th, 2012, 08:57 AM

I hate flying so much. It takes at least 1 Xanax and some wine to get me through. If something like this happened on a flight I was on, I would probably shit my pants.

Agree with Mohandas, that co-pilot was in a very difficult situation but thought on his feet and did something before it was too late.

I hope that pilot gets the help he needs AND finds another profession.

**twitchy2.0** · March 28th, 2012, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by BBDSP

AND finds another profession.

I don't think he has any choice in the matter. He'll never be allowed at the controls ever again.

**MohandasKGanja** · March 28th, 2012, 09:25 AM

From what I reading now, the guys who subdued the captain were heroes. By keeping this guy back, an off-duty pilot was able to get past and into the cockpit to help the copilot land the plane.

Also, the captain broke through two sets of plastic handcuffs and the five guys who held him down had to use their belts to keep him restrained.

**nancydrew** · March 28th, 2012, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by MohandasKGanja

Also, the captain broke through two sets of plastic handcuffs and the five guys who held him down had to use their belts to keep him restrained.

Goddamn! Did he smoke some PCP before the flight? Jesus.

**greysfang** · March 28th, 2012, 12:05 PM

It does sound like he was on something.

**monk** · March 28th, 2012, 12:07 PM

Just because he couldn't get into the cockpit doesn't mean that he couldn't have hurt or killed one of the passengers or the airline staff. The copilot definitely was smart about locking him out and the passengers that subdued him may have saved someone's life, including the pilot himself.

**MohandasKGanja** · March 28th, 2012, 12:08 PM

I think they said he was having a panic attack. However, the things he said and did sounded kind of like someone having hallucinations.

I thought I heard that he was at least 6'3" and beefy. A coworker told me that after a certain size forearm, a person could twist the plastic wrist cuffs back and forth and break them that way.

By the way, the copilot tricked him into leaving the cockpit because the guy apparently stood up and started randomly flicking switches and saying gibberish.

**Sarzy** · March 28th, 2012, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by monk

Just because he couldn't get into the cockpit doesn't mean that he couldn't have hurt or killed one of the passengers or the airline staff. The copilot definitely was smart about locking him out and the passengers that subdued him may have saved someone's life, including the pilot himself.

Exactly. The passengers did the right thing.
I don't think he was on drugs, I think he had a complete breakdown.