Flight had to be diverted after the pilot ran amok

A JetBlue flight in the US had to make an emergency landing after the aircraft's captain went berserk and had to be restrained.

The pilot, named by Sky News as Clayton Osbon, reportedly ran down aisles shouting and screaming, before banging repeatedly on the cockpit door after discovering he had been locked out .

Osborn had to be tackled by passengers and "subdued" after his rants became increasingly frantic, screaming erratic warnings about al-Qaeda and bombs. At one point Osbon bawled at passengers "Say your prayers!".

Texas Newspaper Connect Amarillo reports a passenger said the pilot was "foaming at the mouth".

The captain's apparent breakdown occurred two hours into the flight from New York to Las Vegas.

An off-duty airline captain who was a passenger onboard the flight helped lock Osbon out of the cockpit and took over his place, helping the plane to land safely in Amarillo.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the captain may have been attempting to randomly flick switches in the cockpit.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) statement said: "The co-pilot became concerned that the captain exhibited erratic behaviour during the flight.

"The captain had exited the cockpit during the flight, after which the co-pilot locked the door.

"When the captain attempted to enter the locked cockpit, he was subdued by passengers.

"After the flight landed safely, local law enforcement secured the pilot and he was transported by ambulance for medical evaluation."

According to JetBlue there was a "medical situation involving the captain." An off duty JetBlue pilot who was travelling on the flight helped land the plane, the New York Daily News reported.

According a profile of the pilot in 2011, Osbon had flown over 35 different types of plane, and had hoped to work as a motivational speaker. His wife, told ABC news before she had managed to reach her husband "There are several different sides to every story. Just keep that in mind."

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Emergency workers tend to a JetBlue captain that had a "medical situation" during a Las Vegas-bound flight from JFK International airport, Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Amarillo, Texas. Passengers said the pilot screamed that Iraq or Afghanistan had planted a bomb on the flight, was locked out of the cockpit, and then tackled and restrained by passengers. The pilot who subsequently took command of the aircraft elected to land in Amarillo at about 10 a.m., JetBlue Airways said in a statement. (AP Photo/Steve Douglas)

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Emergency workers tend to a JetBlue captain that had a "medical situation" during a Las Vegas-bound flight from JFK International airport, Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Amarillo, Texas. Passengers said the pilot screamed that Iraq or Afghanistan had planted a bomb on the flight, was locked out of the cockpit, and then tackled and restrained by passengers. The pilot who subsequently took command of the aircraft elected to land in Amarillo at about 10 a.m., JetBlue Airways said in a statement. (AP Photo/Steve Douglas)

 

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Emergency workers tend to a JetBlue captain that had a "medical situation" during a Las Vegas-bound flight from JFK International airport, Tuesday, March 27, 2012, in Amarillo, Texas. Passengers said the pilot screamed that Iraq or Afghanistan had planted a bomb on the flight, was locked out of the cockpit, and then tackled and restrained by passengers. The pilot who subsequently took command of the aircraft elected to land in Amarillo at about 10 a.m., JetBlue Airways said in a statement. (AP Photo/Steve Douglas)

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