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JetBlue Airways captain Clayton Osbon’s erratic behavior Tuesday that forced Flight 191 en route to Las Vegas to make an emergency stopover in Amarillo, Texas included rants about the “Sins in Las Vegas”.
"We're not going to Vegas," Osbon said.
A pilot with JetBlue since 2000, Osbon's odd behavior became increasingly erratic after the flight departed New York, worrying his fellow crew members so much that they locked him out of the cockpit, according to an affidavit. He was eventually taken down by fellow passengers. An off duty pilot on board then entered the cockpit to assist the co-pilot in landing at Amarillo’s Rick Husband Airport.
"The (first officer) became really worried when Osbon said 'we need to take a leap of faith,'" according to the sworn affidavit given by FBI agent John Whitworth. "Osbon started trying to correlate completely unrelated numbers like different radio frequencies, and he talked about sins in Las Vegas."
Las Vegas is one of the world’s premier gambling destinations.
The federal charges against Osbon were filed in Texas. He was being held Wednesday at Northwest Texas Healthcare System in Amarillo and remains under a medical evaluation.
Under federal law, a conviction for interference with a flight crew or attendants can bring up to 20 years in prison.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
