JetBlue pilot Clayton Frederick Osbon (r.) is escorted to a waiting vehicle by FBI agents as he is released from The Pavilion at Northwest Texas Hospital, in Amarillo on Monday.
The JetBlue pilot who went berserk on a Las Vegas-bound kept both feet on the ground Monday when he made his first court appearance.
Clayton Osbon made no religious rants or tirades about terrorism as he stood before a federal judge in Amarillo, Tex.
“Do you understand what they say you did?” U.S. Magistrate Judge Clinton Averitte asked.
“Yes,” said the 49-year-old pilot, who was dressed in a light green dress shirt, darker green pants, and silver-plated handcuffs.
Osbon winked at his wife Connye, but frowned through much of the rest of the five-minute proceeding. He did not enter a plea before he was taken back to a lockup. He is due back in court Thursday for a detention hearing.
Osbon is charged with interfering with a flight crew for his bizarre unraveling on Flight 191 last Tuesday.
A veteran pilot who displayed no previous signs of psychosis, Osbon suddenly started turning off instruments while ranting about Jesus, 9/11 and terrorists shortly after JetBlue Flight 191 took off from Kennedy Airport.
Luckilly, the plane was packed with burly New Yorkers headed to a security convention in Las Vegas.
Several jumped the powerfully-built captain and kept him tied up on the floor of the galley until the plane could make an emergency landing in Texas.
On Sunday, Osbon’s wife issued a statement publicly thanking the men who restrained him.
“We would like to recognize the crew and passengers of Flight 191 for their effective yet compassionate handling of the situation,” Connye Osbon said.
“We know you were placed in an awful situation and we appreciate your ability to respond professionally.”
Connye Osbon stressed in her statement that he didn’t attack anyone — even after being tackled.
“It is our belief, as Clayton's family, that while he was clearly distressed, he was not intentionally violent toward anyone,” she said.
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