A Delta Airlines co-pilot was arrested shortly after Flight 2809 landed at a California airport, allegedly in connection with child sexual abuse materials. The incident occurred at approximately 9:35 PM on Saturday, following the flight’s arrival from Minnesota.
According to responses reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, a tactical team of about ten law enforcement officers boarded the aircraft. This involved agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and they rushed aboard before any passengers were even allowed to disembark. Witnesses recounted a terrifying ordeal as police rushed through the cabin.
A dozen men in uniforms, vests from different agencies and badges with guns, shields forced their way up the aisle to the cockpit. Even that urgency does not capture how tense it would have been here, as law enforcement scrambled to stop the dangerous co-pilot.
Following the arrest, a second wave of officers soon stormed back onto the plane. They usefully rounded up all the co-pilot’s belongings, ensuring that no piece of evidence was left unturned. The quick response from law enforcement shows how seriously they are taking these allegations.
As one fellow passenger recalled, the way the officers “stormed to the front” shows just how high-stakes this arrest was. The role of HSI indicates that federal authorities are treating the case with the seriousness that the allegations warrant.
The passengers on the flight waited for hours in a fog of disbelief while law enforcement went about their business. Delta Airlines has not issued a formal statement about the emergency landing or condition of the co-pilot.