‘Stormed The Cockpit’: Homeland Security Arrests Delta Pilot Moments After Landing In San Francisco

Delta Air Lines flight 2809 from Minneapolis to San Francisco had to go around and attempt to land a second time due to low visibility in fog, and was delayed about 9 minutes, but was otherwise like any other flight – until it reached the gate.

A passenger onboard reports that 10 law enforcement officers, including Homeland Security Investigations officers, “stormed to the front” of the aircraft as soon as the Boeing 757 arrived and “grabbed/arrested” one of the pilots.

The remaining pilot suggested to those who asked that “he had no idea what just happened.” Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t given a heads up that this was happening because that would have also tipped his colleague in the cockpit with him.


Delta Pilot Watches His Colleague Get Removed From The Aircraft

Here are the officers leaving the aircraft.

A Delta spokesperson declined to comment, deferring to law enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet responded to an inquiry.

This comes days after a Delta pilot was arrested in Amsterdam for failing a breathalyzer test prior to departure, although there are reports that test may have been in error.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Yes, @Pilot93434, @Humdrum appears to be correct. Just awful.

    As with the apparent murder-suicide with AI171, I wish that was not the case. Mere parking tickets would be ‘better.’ *sigh*

  2. @Coffee Please — Since we’re on the subject (of prosecuting pedos), I’m with you, regardless of the background, wealth, status, partisanship, etc., wherever it may lead, allow for due process, and ensure the authorities go after the right people for the actual crimes they commit. So, about Epstein, do you think this’ll take out 45/47, or is He just gonna use it to go after his political enemies, and more so, will the base ‘go along’ with that, even if He is clearly implicated? Or is it all still ‘nothing to see here,’ and ‘look over there!’

  3. Don’t prosecute pedos. They’re sick and deserve our compassion. The right approach is psychiatric treatment, not prison.

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