JetBlue Fliers aboard the New York-to-Las Vegas flight that contained the delusional pilot that had to be restrained by passengers are officially suing the airline for emotional stress related to the incident.
10 passengers of the flight have taken their case to the Supreme Court in Queens, claiming that the airline was “grossly negligent” in allowing the pilot to fly, saying that the airline knew or should have known about the pilot’s condition.
Captain Clayton Osbon was flying the March 27th JetBlue flight from NY to Vegas when he had a meltdown in midair, running through the cabin yelling about Jesus and al-Qaeda.
The Captain will face a hearing Friday morning in Amarillo (where the plane made the emergency landing) to determine if he is mentally stable enough to stand trial for the charges brought against him.
The federal charges include interfering with a flight crew, for which he can be sentenced up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
The lawsuit filed with the Supreme Court in Queens sates that the pilot was “yelling about September 11th, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, al-Qaeda and terrorists,” in addition to,
“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” and ”the plane will never make it to Vegas.”
While out of the cockpit, the first officer locked the door and would not allow Osbon back in. Passengers then subdued the pilot until the emergency landing could be made.
According to ABC , the 10 plaintiffs, all from the metropolitan New York area, are seeking unspecified damages for emotional distress.
