I’ve struggled to find something meaningful to say about the incident when the captain of a jetBlue flight suffered from what appeared to be a “nervous breakdown,” resulting in his eventual restraint and later, criminal charges. I think criminal charges are wholly unwarranted and an example of the double-standard and prejudice we hold against people with possible mental health issues. It shows a shocking lack of judgment on the part of the U.S. prosecutors who charged Captain Clayton Osbon. (After all, would they have charged him if he had suffered a stroke instead, which led to similar behavior? I think not.)
But outside of this prejudice shown by people who don’t treat a brain attack like a heart attack, there’s very little more to say about this unfortunate incident. No lives were lost.
And, in fact, no lives have ever been lost due to a U.S. pilot’s mental health issues, according to the Washington Post article.
I was in London at Heathrow Airport when I learned that my flight back to Newark, New Jersey was canceled. More than that, they explained that Newark and all the surrounding airports in the New York City area had been closed because of Hurricane Irene, and that there was no possibility of getting a trans-Atlantic flight for a couple of days.