Southwest Airlines Flight 1763


N798SW, the aircraft involved, photographed in July 2008

Incident
Date: 11 August 2000
Flight origin: Las Vegas, Nevada
Destination: Salt Lake City, Utah
Occupants: 126
Survivors: 125 (all except Jonathan Burton)

Southwest Airlines flight 1763 was a scheduled passenger flight, operated by Southwest Airlines, from McCarran International Airport, in Paradise, Nevada, to Salt Lake City International Airport, in Salt Lake City, Utah. On August 11, 2000, Jonathan Burton, a Las Vegas resident, stormed the cockpit door of the Boeing 737 operating the flight, in an apparent case of air rage. The 19-year-old was subdued by six to eight other passengers with such force that he died of asphyxiation. The death was initially believed to have been a heart attack.

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Incident

There were conflicting reports of Burton's air rage and the events which happened on the plane. CBS News reported the conclusion of the U.S. Attorney's office that criminal charges would not be filed because the death was not intended. Time published an article by Timothy Roche entitled "Homicide in the Sky" in which they described the ruckus rising after Burton had initially been subdued. According to the article, the eight men who pinned Burton rose after Burton had injured an off-duty officer in his struggles and pushed aside the men holding him. The Guardian reported that fellow passenger Dean Harvey said that one of the men involved continued jumping on Burton's chest even after he had been told that Burton was contained.

In a case of air rage, Burton charged the cockpit door, kicking it open and sticking his head in. Eight passengers restrained him, some holding him down with their feet on his neck, causing him to suffocate.

The medical examiner's autopsy report stated that when police arrived, "Mr. Burton was lying face down with at least one individual standing on his neck." Burton had low levels of marijuana in his body but this was not capable of explaining his outburst, which was out of character, and he had no history of violence or mental illness.

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