The pilot, Rustom Bhagwagar (L); Delta Airlines' aircraft.
Credit: @HSISanFrancisco; Reuters File Photo
A Delta Air Lines pilot was arrested on child sex abuse charges and removed from a plane's cockpit immediately after landing in San Francisco on Saturday night, authorities said.
The pilot, Rustom Bhagwagar, 34, was arrested just after 9:30 pm on five counts of oral copulation with a child under 10 years of age, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday night. Detectives with the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office had been investigating Bhagwagar since April, the department said.
The Homeland Security Department had said earlier Monday that the pilot was facing charges involving child sex abuse materials. It was not immediately clear why the charging details had changed; the department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.
Delta Flight 2809, a Boeing 757-300, arrived at San Francisco International Airport at 9:35 pm Saturday after departing from Minneapolis.
A passenger on the plane told the San Francisco Chronicle that several people with "badges, guns and different agency vests/markings" made their way up the aisle and into the cockpit, where they put one of the pilots in handcuffs and escorted that pilot off the plane.
The passenger estimated that at least 10 law enforcement officers were involved in the arrest.
Aviation blog View From the Wing published a short video showing several people with visible badges walking out of the plane's cockpit.
In an emailed statement, Delta said it was "appalled by reports of the charges related to the arrest" and added that the pilot had been suspended pending an investigation. The company directed questions to law enforcement agencies.
Bhagwagar was being held at a detention facility in Martinez, California, in lieu of $5 million bail, the Homeland Security Department said.
"Anyone who commits depraved crimes against a child, including U.S. citizens, will face consequences," Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement.