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Passengers were left shocked as federal agents stormed the cockpit of Delta flight just moments after the plane landed in San Francisco.
One of the plane’s pilots was arrested on child porn charges by officers from multiple agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office.
The incident occurred on board Delta Flight 2809 around 9:35 p.m. local time on Saturday. The flight departed from Minneapolis earlier in the day. The landing was delayed due to heavy fog in the Bay Area.
Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin reported that the pilot was arrested on charges related to child sexual abuse materials.
“A group of people with badges, guns, and different agency vests/markings were pushing their way up through the aisle to the cockpit,” first class passenger Sarah Christianson told The San Francisco Chronicle.
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She also described the officers as having “stormed the cockpit, cuffed the co-pilot, arrested him, walked him down the aisle, and ushered him off the plane through the cabin doors located between first and coach.”
Christianson told the newspaper that the other pilot told the passengers that he was just as confused as everybody else about what was going on. She went on to describe the incident as “shocking and unnerving.” Christianson said that she counted around ten officers involved in the arrest.
In a separate interview, Christianson said that she was reduced to tears following the ordeal.
“It was scary. It was traumatic to watch. As soon as my husband picked me up from baggage claim, I jumped in the car and cried. Because who knows what’s happening to that poor person? Why that happened? What did we just see?” she told ABC San Francisco.
After the pilot was led away, officers remained on board, collecting his belongings. He had not been publicly identified.
Video of the arrest was published by aviation blog A View From the Wing.
Just last week, a Delta pilot was arrested in Sweden after allegedly failing a breathalyzer test, something the pilot and the airline have denied.
