Pilot Charged in Attack on Flight Crew Faced Disciplinary Hearing

The Federal Express pilot who was arrested in the attack on the crew of a company jet with a hammer and a spear gun had faced a disciplinary hearing Friday for reportedly lying on his employment application, a newspaper reported.

Auburn Calloway, 42, was charged with assaulting an aircraft crew in flight in connection with the attack Thursday night. The bloodied flight crew managed to land the DC-10 safely.

Calloway had been awaiting a company hearing for allegedly falsifying his employment application when he was hired, and was probably going to be fired, the Commercial Appeal newspaper reported. The paper said he had failed to disclose that he had been fired from another air cargo company.

Federal Express refused to discuss Calloway’s work record or his professional background.

The attack occurred shortly after the plane left Memphis International Airport on a routine run to San Jose, Calif.

Calloway, who was off-duty at the time, was flying as a passenger. Federal Express often allows its employees to fly free on cargo planes, officials said.

Calloway, who was seated immediately outside the crew’s cabin, is accused of attacking the crew members with a claw hammer and threatening the captain with a spear gun, used by scuba divers for underwater fishing.

With blood running down his face, the pilot struggled to keep the cargo plane under control, and bloodied and injured crew members managed to turn the plane around about 40 miles from Memphis and return to the airport as the fighting continued, the FBI said.

The plane’s pilot, Capt. David G. Sanders, 49, was treated Thursday night and released. First Officer James M. Tucker, 42, and Second Officer Andre H. Peterson, 39, remained in serious condition Friday. Calloway was also hospitalized with serious injuries.