Clayton Osbon's JetBlue meltdown out of character, friends say

KELLER, Ga. -- Coastal Georgia friends and acquaintances of Clayton Osbon can't believe that the person they know as a standup "average Joe" is the same man who had a meltdown on a JetBlue flight this week.

"I'm surprised, let me tell you," said Darlene Carpenter, who has known Clayton and Connye Osbon for about eight years.

Carpenter owns The Back Porch antique store in the coastal Georgia community of Keller and rents space to Connye Osbon, who has a massage therapy business.

"It's just crazy," Carpenter said Thursday, adding that she last spoke to Clayton Osbon about five or six weeks ago when he dropped by the business. Her sentiments echoed those of others who know Osbon and have spoken highly of him since Tuesday's incident on Flight 191.

"It's got to be something medical because it was so out of character," Carpenter theorized of his disruptive behavior as the plane traveled from New York to Las Vegas. "He's a family man. He goes to church and is just an average Joe." Carpenter attends the small Community Baptist Church in Keller.

Carpenter recalled when an elderly couple bought a chest of drawers from her shop and were wondering how to carry it to the car.

"Clayton just picked it up and took it outside," she said. "That's how nice he is. I can't say anything bad about him because I don't know anything bad about him."

Carpenter said Osbon loves his five dogs, his vintage airplanes and the riverfront home he shares with Connye. The home is located on Belle Island, about 15 miles from the small town of Richmond Hill in Bryan County, which was the home of automobile magnate Henry Ford.

Longtime residents describe the area where the Osbons live as the end of the world, because it is so remote, although a handful of homes are located on the isle. Osbon, 49, would drive a couple of hours to Jacksonville, Fla., to fly for JetBlue, Carpenter said.

Savannah radio personality Lyndy Brannen said he spent an entire day one-on-one with Clayton Osbon last fall when both of them volunteered for a regatta to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project.

Osbon and Brannen were on Osbon's recreational boat for eight or nine hours during the charity event. Amateur radio clubs organized the regatta and needed boats to help, and that's how Osbon became involved, Brannen said.

"We talked about everything in the world," Brannen recalled. "He was very professional and exactly like I thought an airline pilot would be like. He was dead serious about his job."

"I got the impression from him that life was pretty darn good and he was expecting it to be even better," Brannen said.

His first thought when he saw a news headline about what happened on Flight 191 was "There can't possibly be two JetBlue pilots from Richmond Hill."

Then, when he read Osbon's name, Brannen thought, "This can't be right."

"I couldn't imagine it at all," he said.

Dallas Daniel, who owns Plantation Lumber and Hardware in Richmond Hill, described Osbon as a "great guy" who was a frequent shopper at his store. Daniel said he met Osbon through a mutual physician friend who attended University of Florida football games with the pilot.

"He's a great guy," Daniel said. "I'm wondering what happened because it is way out of character. It makes you wonder what did go wrong."