AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — A federal judge in Texas has found a JetBlue Airways pilot who left the cockpit during a flight and screamed about terrorists not guilty by reason of insanity.
The judge’s Tuesday ruling came during a bench trial for Clayton F. Osbon. It noted he suffered from a “severe mental disease or defect.” Osbon was earlier deemed mentally competent to stand trial.
The pilot will go to a federal mental health facility for examination until another hearing on or before Aug. 6. The judge will decide then whether Osbon can be released or committed to a mental facility.
Osbon was charged with interfering with a flight crew after the March 27 flight from Las Vegas to New York. Passengers wrestled him to the floor after he ran through the plane’s cabin.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
