He went berserk and was pummeled, wrestled into the aisle and held down so tight he couldn't breathe. So far, the more Janet Burton has learned, the more she has questioned. Little about Burton's last hour alive is sure. What follows is the best reconstruction possible to date, pieced together by The Associated Press from interviews with passengers, police, the FBI, airline officials, Burton's mother and sections of the autopsy report. Airport police also supplied written statements from five officers who met the flight at Salt Lake City International just after 11 p.m. on Aug. 11.
Accounts differ, each influenced by vantage point, tainted by media reports or confused by panic.
Jonathan Burton was headed to Salt Lake to spend two weeks with his aunt and uncle. It was a trip he and his older brothers had made almost every summer since they were kids. During the week, they'd work at their uncle's painting business. Water skiing and hiking ruled the weekends. In more recent years, the brothers often went separately, and this year, Burton was traveling alone.