Police storm onto flight and arrest pilot straight after plane lands in ‘scary’ moment

A co-pilot has been arrested on board a Delta Air Lines flight right after it landed in San Francisco, in a moment passengers have described as “scary”.

The incident occurred on Saturday (26th July), when police stormed onto the plane while the passengers were still on board and took him into custody from the cockpit at San Francisco International Airport.

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said he was arrested on charges related to child sexual abuse material, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

His identity was then revealed by the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office as 34-year-old Rustom Bhagwagar of Florida. He has been arrested on five counts of oral copulation with a child under 10 years of age.

“Detectives from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff Investigation Division have been conducting an investigation since April 2025 after receiving a report of sex crimes against a child. A Ramey arrest warrant was later secured for the suspect,” the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

“Through the investigation, it was learned that the suspect was an airline pilot and that he was due to fly into San Francisco International Airport on the evening of Saturday, July 26, 2025.”

Delta has also issued a statement, saying: “Delta has zero tolerance for unlawful conduct and will fully cooperate with law enforcement. We are appalled by reports of the charges related to the arrest and the individual in question has been suspended pending an investigation.”

Credit: Contra Costa County Office

The Delta Flight 2809 from Minnesota landed at approximately 9.35pm, and passengers have spoken out about how scary the whole experience was.

Most Read

The five huge details Amy Bradley Is Missing on Netflix missed out about the case

Jenny Han explains why the show’s ending of The Summer I Turned Pretty is different from the books

This is what ChatGPT thinks is the most reasonable theory of what happened to Amy Bradley

“Police barged through and stormed the cockpit. They removed the co-pilot, cuffed him, presumably arrested him, and brought him back down the aisle to deplane,” one woman called Sarah told ABC7.

“It was scary. It was traumatic to watch. As soon as my husband picked me up from baggage claim, I jumped in the car and cried. Because who knows what’s happening to that poor person? Why that happened? What did we just see?”

Another passenger told The Chronicle: “A group of people with badges, guns, and different agency vests/markings were pushing their way up through the aisle to the cockpit.”

She said the officers “stormed the cockpit, cuffed the co-pilot, arrested him, walked him down the aisle, and ushered him off the plane through the cabin doors located between first [class] and coach”.

The co-pilot is currently being held at the Martinez Detention Facility on $5 million bail. The investigation is ongoing.

For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook.

Featured image by: Contra Costa County Office and Canva