The JetBlue pilot whose scary and bizarre mid-flight meltdown was immortalized on YouTube appeared in court yesterday to be arraigned on charges of interfering with a flight crew. If convicted, Clayton F. Osbon, 49, could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. But there's speculation the case won't even go to trial if doctors' examinations reveal he was suffering from a severe medical problem aboard the JFK to Vegas flight.
Osbon is being held without bail pending the results of medical examinations, and he will be back in court on Thursday, in what senior CBS correspondent John Miller expects to be a pivotal day. "That's when the government has to put its cards on the table and say, 'This is why we think he should or shouldn't be released.' Right now they're saying, 'He shouldn't be released, here's why we think he's dangerous.' And the defense will likely have to counter with, 'Here's what we learned from the doctors at the hospital. This is why we think he's okay.'"
It's still unclear what caused Osbon's episode, but there's a good chance we could find out Thursday. Longtime friends and fellow pilots tell the AP they don't recall Osbon having any previous mental or health problems. Osbon was not required to enter a plea in court yesterday, and his attorney—the excellently named Dean Roper—declined to comment after the hearing.
The AP reports that during the hearing, "Osbon smiled at his wife and JetBlue employees who watched his first federal court appearance from the gallery, but did not speak other than to tell the judge he understood his rights and the charges against him." According to the Daily News, Osbon winked at his wife, but frowned through the rest of the brief, five-minute hearing. He'll be back in court on Thursday for the bail hearing. Miller predicts: "If [the defense] can make a good enough case that, A, this was a medical problem; and that B, he didn't know right from wrong, I think these charges go away."
