Ten passengers filed a lawsuit Wednesday against JetBlue Airways, claiming they feared for their lives when a pilot had to be physically restrained after running through the cabin yelling about Jesus and al Qaeda during a New York-to-Las Vegas flight in March.
The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Queens, claims the airline was “grossly negligent” in allowing Capt. Clayton Osbon to fly.
A flight attendant’s ribs were bruised as passengers tried to restrain Osbon, but no one on board was seriously hurt. The March 27 flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas.
Osbon faces a hearing Friday morning in Amarillo to determine if he is mentally competent to stand trial. He faces federal charges of interfering with a flight crew. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
An airline spokesman did not immediately comment Wednesday on the lawsuit
According to the lawsuit and a federal indictment, witnesses on Flight 191 say Osbon ran through the cabin in a wild rant. The first officer locked him out of the cockpit and passengers wrestled Osbon to the floor.
The lawsuit also claims he was “yelling about September 11th, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, al Qaeda and terrorists.”
Other comments, according to the suit, included: “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.”
In the moments before Osbon threw his terrifying tantrum, he appeared to be the picture of calm, video of the terrifying incident revealed.
In the footage, Osbon is seen chatting with flight attendants, one of whom is even smiling.
The other flight attendant goes on about her business, as Osbon talks and sips water.
Moments later, he went berserk, prompting passengers to hold him down while the plane made an emergency landing.
Tony Antolino, the passenger who shot the footage, said he was frightened for his life and wanted to preserve a record in case of disaster.
“I, at least, wanted something so that, God forbid, the phone was found in a field somewhere, maybe there would be some tip, some hint for someone to say OK, hey, what was going on here,” Antolino told CBS News, which first broadcast the video.
Antolino told the network that, despite Osbon’s seeming calm in the video, people could tell that something was wrong from the things he was saying. Antolino said that, as he filmed, he was afraid Osbon was moments away from “completely coming apart.”
A video released the day of the incident showed passengers sitting on the veteran pilot as the co-pilot and an off-duty pilot landed the aircraft in Amarillo, Texas.
In their request for a psych test, federal prosecutors recounted how Osbon ranted maniacally, including shouting “pray f—king now for Jesus Christ” as he was held down.
The co-pilot locked the cock-pit door as passengers held Osbon, who was ranting about Iraq and Iran terrorists, they said.
An attorney for Osbon has filed a motion outlining plans to argue Osbon was insane at the time of the incident.
The new lawsuit claims JetBlue knew or should have known he was unfit to be entrusted with the aircraft as pilot.
The 10 plaintiffs, all from the metropolitan New York area, are seeking unspecified damages for emotional distress.