General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJust watched a clip of the Jet Blue pilot -- disturbing.
The man obviously had some kind of breakdown, yet he's facing charges of interfering with a flight with a possible sentence of 20 years.
Have we no JUSTICE? Have we no COMPASSION? He needs help, not incarceration.
Mz Pip
(27,453 posts)maybe 15-20 years ago where a pilot had some kind of a meltdown over the Atlantic Ocean. He crashed the jet into the ocean killing over 200. I agree this guy need help but he seriously endangered a lot of people. Justice and compassion aren't mutually exclusive.
Warpy
(111,329 posts)Justice is not served by sending him to a prison for something that was out of his control.
The guy who had a meltdown was an Egyptian who was facing the end of his career as a pilot. The doors didn't lock back then so he was able to take a planeload of people with him when he decided to go out doing what he loved.
Proles
(466 posts)with interfering with the flight crew, yet technically he was part of the flight crew, and in charge of it.
Anyways, it'd be interesting to figure out just WHY he went crazy. Was it a medical issue? Drugs? Stress/family issues? Depending on the answer should determine whether or not he serves prison time. Hell, maybe it was some crazy terrorist plot to drug airline crew members. Why is this happening so soon after the American Airlines flight attendant goes nuts? People don't have otherwise long, successful careers, only to have them end abruptly in a fit of insanity.
I think prison is pointless though. Just revoke his medical/license so he can't fly again (at least airliners for sure), and get him some mental help... not prison.
backscatter712
(26,355 posts)My guess is that he had something like undiagnosed diabetes. Extremely low blood sugar may cause a person to flip out like this captain did.
Lost-in-FL
(7,093 posts)IDemo
(16,926 posts)Only if he were on an insulin regimen might his sugars drop into the danger zone where behavior like this is seen. High BG levels can cause mental confusion as well, but not the kind of adrenalized excitability as seen here.
RKP5637
(67,112 posts)are a very backward nation, true, not as much as some, but we are clearly backward. Exactly as you said, "Have we no JUSTICE? Have we no COMPASSION? He needs help, not incarceration."
And look at what we do often, for example, with people with drug issues, we imprison them. Corporate prisons are profitable for some and the profiteers have no difficulty in working to construe and manipulate the legal system in their favor.
msongs
(67,433 posts)gateley
(62,683 posts)in the cockpit.
Even though so much of commercial air travel is computerized, I think the public wouldn't stand for it if they only had one person in charge of the plane. I hope I'm right.
Even if the other isn't suffering a mental breakdown, there's always the chance of a heart attack, stroke, whatever -- there HAS to be a backup.
pnwest
(3,266 posts)undergoing a full medical evaluation, including psych eval, and depending on what's found out, the charges may not stick. He coulda had a stroke...he also coulda been stoked out of his mind on meth. They just don't know yet.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)I would be interested in knowing if he belonged to some kind of cult that broke him down mentally.
mainer
(12,023 posts)according to a report over on AOL.
This doesn't really sound like a stroke to me. And I've heard on a pilot's message board that insulin-dependent pilots aren't allowed to fly commercial jets.
This sounds more like a psychotic break, manifesting in religious paranoia.
librechik
(30,676 posts)they could drop the charges if he seems impaired. Maybe a brain tumor? They'll find out.