FBI: Man enraged by flight attendant, then suffocated

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2000 | 11:28 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

SALT LAKE CITY -- A flight attendant might have provoked an enraged 19-year-old Las Vegas Southwest Airlines passenger who was later suffocated by fellow passengers trying to control him, according to an FBI report.

But an airline spokeswoman said this morning that the flight crew was dealing with a very violent passenger and did everything they could to ensure the safety of the other passengers on the flight from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City in August.

Prosecutors relied partly on the report, released Tuesday, in deciding in October not to file criminal charges against the passengers who restrained 19-year-old Jonathan Burton.

Kent Spence, a lawyer for Burton's family, said this morning the report does not answer the question of why the flight crew didn't do anything when as many as eight male passengers pounced on the teenager.

"Where was the voice of reason and where were the Southwest flight attendants to give direction to these passengers and where were the plastic flex cuffs that are on most flights?" Spence said.

Ginger Hardage, a Southwest Airlines spokeswoman, said Burton erupted into another violent rage when he was moved away from his seat near the emergency exit. He was moved because he continued to reach for the exit.

"Our flight crew is trained on how to deal with difficult passengers, but Jonathan was more than difficult, he was threatening the lives of everyone in that aircraft," she said. "They handled a difficult situation with a very violent passenger very well. Their obligation and priority was the safe landing of that plane."

The Burton family has not yet decided if it will file a lawsuit against the airline, Spence said.

The FBI documents do not include some evidence, such as autopsy photos, nor do they name other passengers on Southwest Flight 1763 from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City on Aug. 11.

In the report, witnesses said that about 15 minutes before the plane landed, Burton began pacing the aisle and gesturing.

"(He) ran up the aisle very quickly and smashed through the door to the cockpit," one witness said. "He started to yell about someone needs to fly the plane, because the pilot was not flying the plane."

Other passengers tackled Burton and walked him back to his seat. He tried to leave his seat several times but was stopped by burly passengers sitting on either side.

A flight attendant "exacerbated the situation by approaching Burton, shaking her finger in his face, and yelling at him," the report says.

The same attendant suggested Burton be moved away from the emergency exit. As he was changing seats, Burton swung his fists and kicked wildly, bloodying one man's face. One passenger said he was "like a tornado."

As many as eight men dragged Burton to the ground and stayed on top of him for several minutes until he lost consciousness.

Paramedics who met the plane found that Burton was not breathing. An autopsy showed Burton had suffocated.

Passengers speculated that Burton was on drugs, and one said that before Burton charged the cockpit, he shouted, "It's not the drugs."

The medical examiner's report found marijuana in Burton's system but concluded drugs were not directly responsible for Burton's behavior or his death.