First of all, the fact that he was part of a flight crew does not make it impossible for him to interfere with a flight crew. You may want to review the events aboard certain FedEx and Egyptair flights. And just to be clear, you're arguing that this man was so obviously NOT in control of his faculties that we have no right to arrest and charge him, but he WAS in control of the airplane at that moment. Sorry, but I would classify a captain declaring his refusal to complete the flight and determination to instead "take a leap of faith" (among other things) as abdication of command. If I'm in that cockpit, he's not the captain anymore, he's a threat to himself and others.
You may not be familiar with how the justice system works, but here you go:
A crime takes place. The police detain the people involved. If there is enough evidence that a crime took place and that a particular person is responsible for it, that person gets arrested and charged. He will then get his day in court. Insanity then becomes viable as a defense, if it can be demonstrated.
As it currently stands. this man has no background of mental illness at all. Legally, he must be treated based on what he did. Doctors are evaluating him RIGHT NOW to determine if he had criminal intent. If (more like "when") said doctors determine he is/was out of his mind, that evidence is entered and the case proceeds accordingly. And if they really wanted to throw the book at him, attempted hijacking carries a lot more weight than interfering with a flight crew.
Not to whack you over the head with the implications here, but this would not be the first guy in history who decided God wanted him to pull some funny business with an airplane. Are you proposing we make that an absolute defense from prosecution?
Last edited by thepotato232; 29th Mar 2012 at 18:47.