FBI plans no action in death of passenger

Keith Paul

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 11:29 a.m.

Federal agents have found no new evidence that would support reopening the investigation into the death of a Las Vegas man killed by passengers on a Southwest Airlines flight, FBI officials told the Sun today.

"We haven't officially closed the investigation yet, but we are wrapping things up," said Special Agent Bill Matthews, spokesman for the agency's Salt Lake City office. "We've talked to or received written statements from about 90 percent of the passengers already and haven't found anything that would change the decision by the U.S. attorney's office (not to prosecute any of the passengers)."

Agents are no longer trying to track down additional passengers aboard the Aug. 11 flight on which where 19-year-old Jonathan Burton tried to force his way into the cockpit. Passengers forcibly restrained Burton until the plane landed. He died about an hour later in a Salt Lake City hospital.

Kent Spence, a lawyer for Burton's family, said today that the FBI, U.S. attorney's office and Southwest Airlines have not shared any specific information about what happened with him. Spence said his own investigator is looking into the case.

"Mrs. Burton wants to know what happened to her boy," he said. Janet Burton of Las Vegas was not available for comment today.

During the flight from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, Burton beat on the cockpit door, bashing in a section, and then pushed his upper body into the cockpit, according to a Salt Lake City Airport Police report of the incident. Several of the 120 passengers aboard the flight forceably pulled him to the floor and restrained him.

When the plane landed a police officer entered the plane and saw that a "passenger had his foot placed on the top front side of the subject's head, and another passenger had his foot on the front right side of the subject's throat," according to the police report.

Another officer noted in the report that five or six passengers were restraining Burton and he did not appear to be conscious. The officer heard one of the passengers say, "Don't let him up. He's strong." Another passenger was heard saying "... when he comes around, he's going to fight you."

One officer put handcuffs on Burton, and then one of the passengers carried the Las Vegas teen off the plane.

"Several passengers state that the flight crew antagonized the young man and that intensified his anger," the report stated. The names of the passengers were removed from the report by airport police.

The report did not go into detail about what the flight crew may have done to antagonize Burton, a caregiver at a Las Vegas retirement home.

Burton died at a Salt Lake City hospital early the next morning. An autopsy determined he was killed by the actions of the other passengers. The death was listed as a homicide, but the U.S. attorney's office in Salt Lake City decided not to press criminal charges against any passengers, saying they acted in self-defense.

Spence said he wants to know what the Southwest Airlines crew did to antagonize Burton,

"Our question, not our allegation, is did Southwest Airlines employees properly handle this situation?" Spence said. "Did they aggravate and escalate the situation? And where were the people of authority when the restrainers got out of control on Jonathan, resulting in him being beaten from the top of his head to his ankles and having the life choked out of him."

Southwest Airlines officials did not return calls from the Sun this morning.

One passenger contacted Thursday by the Associated Press said that flight attendants may have provoked Burton after his initial outburst.

Anne Crawford, 41, of Barstow, Calif., said that after Burton tried to get into the cockpit, passengers succeeded in getting him back to his seat and calming him. Then a flight attendant loudly announced that another passenger, an off-duty police officer, would take care of the situation, Crawford recalled.

"She was standing next to me when she was making the announcement, and I was just cringing in my seat because they had pretty much calmed him down," said Crawford, who was seated two rows behind Burton.

Burton punched the officer in the face, Crawford said.

"He was calm, he seemed like he was going to relax, but then he went into this fit again," she said. "I was just wondering how much training Southwest gives to help deal with these situations."

Crawford denied passengers used excessive force to restrain Burton.

"Was there force? You bet. He was strong, he had the strength of a mad man. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have been able to fight them, but he was fighting off a dozen men," she said.