Unfriendly Skies: Questions Surround Deadly Air Rage Incident
A young man was killed by his fellow passengers on a flight leaving Las Vegas in the summer of 2000. Over twenty years later, questions still remain surrounding the circumstances of the death of Jonathan Burton.
The same type of plane as Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 landing at McCarran International Airport. (Wikipedia)
19-year-old Jonathan Burton boarded Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 at McCarran International Airport on the night of August 11, 2000, on his way to visit relatives in Salt Lake City. Burton appeared fine to his mother while she drove him to the airport and waited with her son at the gate. The young man took his seat on the plane and buckled up without incident.
However, something changed for Jonathan Burton once the plane reached cruising altitude and flight attendants began drink service. Another passenger on the flight noted Burton had a “frantic” look on his face at this point. Burton rose from his seat and grabbed a drink off of the serving tray without asking. A flight attendant reprimanded Burton for his conduct, but he offered no response as though the flight attendant’s words had not registered.
A few minutes later, Burton got up from his seat again and rummaged through the cabinets at the rear of the plane until he found some bags of peanuts, which he took with him back to his seat. Burton then made his way to the front of the aircraft and landed a kick on the flimsy cockpit door, causing the door to fly open. Burton stuck his head into the cockpit and demanded to speak with the pilot. A member of the crew shoved Burton out of the cockpit and locked the door.
Jonathan Burton, the sole fatality on Southwest Airlines Flight 1763. (AP)
Several of Burton’s fellow passengers grabbed the erratic young man and forced him into a seat. Burton appeared to calm for a moment, but he experienced another outburst as the plane began its descent into Salt Lake City. Burton jumped from his seat and began throwing punches at other passengers. As Burton neared the emergency exit, someone warned that he was trying to open the door to the plane.
A group of 6 - 8 men restrained Burton and forced him to the floor in the aisle near the emergency exit. A few passengers beat and kicked the now defenseless teenager as the plane finished its descent. Some of the passengers were distraught over what they viewed as the unnecessary force being used against Burton.
By the time Flight 1763 landed in Salt Lake City, Burton was unconscious. Police handcuffed his motionless body and paramedics tended to his wounds. His fellow passengers had left Burton’s body covered in bruises.
Jonathan Burton would be declared dead a few hours later at a local hospital. The cause of death was suffocation.
Excerpt from a Salt Lake City Police Department report on the death of Jonathan Burton. (TheSmokingGun.com)
The FBI conducted an investigation into Burton’s death. Though some passengers on Flight 1763 claimed those restraining Burton engaged in vigilante justice when they suffocated him to death, investigators determined that Burton presented a threat to the safety of everyone on board the plane and no criminal intent could be ascribed to those restraining Burton. In the end, no one was charged in relation to the death of Jonathan Burton.
Burton had never experienced mental health issues in the past and had no history of violent behavior. He had just finished an uneventful high school career at Cheyenne High School. Burton was about to begin classes at the Community College of Southern Nevada, and he had recently received the Employee of the Month award from the nursing home where he worked as a housekeeper.
An autopsy of Burton showed trace amounts of THC and cocaine, but the FBI did not believe these levels would have caused the kind of uncontrolled behavior witnessed on Flight 1763.
The best theory investigators could come up with is that Burton suffered from a case of “air rage” that triggered his uncontrolled outburst. However, a conclusive answer to the cause of Burton’s frantic state of mind that ultimately led to his death remains a mystery.