JetBlue captain subdued after pounding on cockpit

For those looking for a reason to cut the FFDO program, a situation like this one doesn't help; even though it could've happened to anyone, the fact it was an airline captain only adds fuel to their cause, potentially.
 
Wow. Another crazy crewmember issue at Jetblue after the cursing slideout flight attendant some months ago. All this on the heels of the incident of the incoherent rambling flight attendant at American some weeks ago. Hopefully this crazy crewmember situation is not becoming a trend.

Don't forget about the Pinnacle fiasco and sometimes I wonder if to be a f/a you have to be crazy as a job requirment. I was married to one and oh boy......
 
I think what's even worse is how we see mental health in America.

Now if he had a heart attack in flight, recovered and there wasn't any heavy dystrophy, he'd be back flying in another year or so.

But since it's not his heart and it's his "head", so to speak, it's most likely "Game Over", permanently.

Plus, as pilots, mental pathologies are generally the career "kiss of death", even those that are temporary and treatable.

I'd venture to say that the FAA's policy towards mental health directly leads to these sorts of incidents. In the average workplace, if you have an issue you seek help before something tragic occurs and move on. In ours, pilots bottle it up for fear of losing their careers and it manifests itself into something like this. I find the whole thing very tragic and I hope this pilot gets the help that he needs. Obviously our environment is different and a pilot needs to be 100% mentally sound to do his/her job but without any hope for reinstatement you can't reasonably expect a mentally ill pilot to have the capacity to seek help through the proper channels.

On a side note, I once sat next to this captain while nonreving from ATL to SAV. I remember him being a very nice guy and I enjoyed our conversation. Very sad indeed.
 
I'm thinking metaboli
This is not the first incident of this type - http://www.pprune.org/canada/310940-air-canada-pilot-inflight-mental-breakdown.html I believe this guy had a brain tumor.

I hope it was an hypoxic event related to anemia - a good GI bleed would do it. Heard he was #3.
Could also be a metabolic issue compounded by hypoxia ie diabeetus, etc. DKA can make you behave pretty strangely even at sea level.
Hopefully this will get out of the news quickly, and he can get this straightened out.
 
You mean you aren't going to rush to judgement without the entire story on what's likely a complex set of events, like many in the Florida shooting thread in the Lav?

I will repeat, this WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED had Zimmerman stayed in the truck. Oh....wait, wrong thread.
 
Not rushing to judgement on this...but it doesn't "feel" like a psychiatric deal to me but more like some kind of reaction to something like others have suggested. It will be really interesting to follow this.
 
I'm jumping in on the "rampant speculation mode" today. It's fun to do without facts.

***Bi-polar, or other mental illness.***

:smoke:
 
Our passengers were joking around about this incident today. I can't help but feel like this is only going to become more common. There is too much at stake to treat flight crew poorly. Clearly the current treatment of pilots by management and the general public will only lead to more similar outbursts. I think this episode is sad, for the pilot and for the profession.
 
Our passengers were joking around about this incident today. I can't help but feel like this is only going to become more common. There is too much at stake to treat flight crew poorly. Clearly the current treatment of pilots by management and the general public will only lead to more similar outbursts. I think this episode is sad, for the pilot and for the profession.

On the other hand, the JetBlue pilots I know are a rather happy bunch. Probably more to this story.
 
On the other hand, the JetBlue pilots I know are a rather happy bunch. Probably more to this story.


My last rotation I flew with a POW, F4 driver, Eastern and United Captain. I actually took comfort in the stories of how well pilots were treated "back in the day." You know why? Being poor is stressful. You know how I know? I'm effectively poor for the area I live in. Last year I have slept in my car, on friends couches and a few times a hangar or two. It makes life at work even harder and any additional work related stress can get you close to the tipping point.

IMHO this could happen to anyone. None of us are immune. I'm sure there is a back story. I don't really want to know it.
 
Someone Tweeted-
-"Our pilot went nuts and we had to land in Amarillo. I am never flying jetblue ever again!! saw my life flash before my eyes today..unreal."-

...Amarillo has that effect on people..

No kidding. When I read about it the first thing I thought was "that sucks, think you're going to Vegas, end up in Texas"
 
I was watching CNN and they were interviewing a passenger on the flight just before they had Sully come on, they asked the passenger if he thought he was going to die... The passenger said that all he was thinking about was his wife and kids and started crying. Unreal...
 
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