Jonathan Burton (1981 - August 11, 2000) was a Las Vegas, Nevada, resident who stormed the cockpit door of Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, Utah. The 19-year-old was subdued by eight other passengers with such force that he died of asphyxiation. The death was initially believed to have been a heart attack.
There were conflicting reports of Burton's air rage and exactly what happened on the plane. CBS News reported:...
more
Jonathan Burton (1981 - August 11, 2000) was a Las Vegas, Nevada, resident who stormed the cockpit door of Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City, Utah. The 19-year-old was subdued by eight other passengers with such force that he died of asphyxiation. The death was initially believed to have been a heart attack.
There were conflicting reports of Burton's air rage and exactly what happened on the plane. CBS News reported:
Time ran an article by Timothy Roche entitled "Homicide in the Sky":
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."
Four months later, an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation featured a plot paralleling Burton's death, “Unfriendly Skies”, which was televised December 8, 2000. A year later, playwright Lucas Rockwood turned the incident into a play, Fifty Minutes, which was performed a few weeks prior to the attacks of September 11,...
less
