The wife of a JetBlue captain who went berserk mid-flight forcing passengers to restrain him has defended her husband as it emerged that he may have suffered a 'panic attack'.
Clayton Frederick Osbon, 49, screamed 'say your prayers, say your prayers' at terrified passengers after running up and down the aisle shouting 'Iraq, al-Qaeda, terrorism, we're all going down.'
Law enforcement sources said the captain of yesterday's flight 191 from JFK to Las Vegas who went 'crazy' after he went to the toilet and returned to find that he had been locked out of the cockpit, had suffered a panic attack.
His co-pilot had managed to coax him out of the flight deck and changed the security code after becoming concerned when the experienced captain had started randomly flipping switches in the cockpit.
Scroll down to see footage of the incident, and hear audio of air traffic control call...
Mental breakdown: A JetBlue flight captain, pictured, was restrained and taken to hospital, after going berserk mid-flight and screaming at passengers to say their prayers because the plane was going down
Unruly pilot: The captain of the JetBlue flight has been identified as Clayton Osbon, pictured here in a cockpit
Osbon, who has been suspended, charged with interfering with a flight crew and is receiving medical care while in FBI custody, has been a JetBlue captain for 12 years, but has been around planes for about 30 years.
Wife: Connye Osbon has defended her husband of seven years
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Osbon has been married to his wife Connye since 2005, according to the pilot's Facebook page.
Mrs Osbon, speaking to ABC News, warned that there might be more to what happened aboard the flight.
She told the network: 'There are several different sides to every story. Just keep that in mind'.
But she added, 'I don't have a clue... I have no idea what's going on.I haven't spoken with him.'
Passengers told local media that about three hours into the flight the captain had behaved oddly after going to the toilet, randomly talking with passengers on his way back to the cockpit.
The veteran captain, a commercial pilot since 1989, was not at the plane controls but 'began acting erratically, flipping switches in the cockpit and appearing confused,' according to the sources reports ABC.
They said his co-pilot tricked him into going to the passenger compartment to check something out, then locked the door and changed the security code behind him.
MEDICAL BACKGROUND PROBE
The FBI was coordinating an investigation with the airport police, Amarillo police, the FAA and the TSA, according to agency spokeswoman Lydia Maese in Dallas.
She declined to comment on whether any arrests have been made.
As a result of the incident, the FAA will review the captain's medical certificate - essentially a good housekeeping seal of approval that the pilot is healthy.
All pilots working for scheduled airlines must have a first class medical certificate.
The certificates are required to be renewed every year if the pilot is under 40, every six months if 40 or over.
To obtain a certificate, the pilot must receive a physical examination by an FAA-designated medical examiner that includes questions about the pilot's psychological condition.
The medical examiner can order additional psychological testing.
Pilots are required to disclose all existing physical and psychological conditions and medications.
In 2008, an Air Canada co-pilot had a mental breakdown on a flight from Toronto to London and was forcibly removed from the cockpit, restrained and edated.
The unruly pilot was taken to hospital with a police escort after being removed from the flight
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2121240/JetBlue-pilot-Clayton-Osbon-restrained-PASSENGERS-going-berserk-mid-flight.html#ixzz1qRY2788D
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