Cause of death awaited on man who tried to break into cockpit

Monday, Aug. 14, 2000 | 11:31 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

FBI officials say it will take several weeks to determine the cause of death of a 19-year-old man who attempted to break into the cockpit of a Southwest Airlines flight over the weekend.

An autopsy was done on Jonathan Cain Burton, but officials are waiting on the test results before ruling on the cause of death, Special Agent Bill Matthews said.

Burton, a caregiver at a Las Vegas retirement home, tried to break into the cockpit, then went into cardiac arrest after being taken into custody when the plane from Las Vegas landed at the Salt Lake International Airport, an airline spokesman said Saturday.

Burton was pulled off the flight by airport security when the plane landed Friday night, Southwest spokesman Ed Stewart said.

"The plane was about 20 minutes from landing, and that's when this gentleman did go into a rage and tried apparently to break into the cockpit doors," Stewart said.

Stewart said crew members tried to restrain the man, but it took half a dozen passengers to help hold him down.

No one else on board the plane was reported injured.

Airport duty manager Dennis Andersen said the man went into cardiac arrest after being pulled off the plane by airport security. The case has been handed over to the FBI.

Matthews said agents are interviewing passengers and crew trying to determine what prompted Burton to try to break into the cockpit.

Burton, born Dec. 2, 1980, in Princeton, W.Va., was a resident of Las Vegas for 15 years. He is survived by his mother, Janet Burton, brothers Brad and Craig Burton, grandparents, Jack and Jean Tilston, and a nephew, Evan Burton, all of Las Vegas, and grandmother Delores Burton of Princeton, W.Va.