DHS arrests Delta co-pilot after touchdown in San Francisco over possession of child sex abuse material

A Delta Airline pilot was taken into custody by officials from the Department of Homeland Security just moments after he landed in San Francisco, reportedly on charges of child sex abuse material. Authorities hauled the pilot off the plane while passengers were still deplaning. 

“A group of people with badges, guns, and different agency vests/markings were pushing their way up through the aisle to the cockpit," passenger Sarah Christianson, who witnessed the arrest, told the San Francisco Chronicle in an email. After the Boeing 757-300 touched down at the airport, a group of around 10 federal officials with the Department of Homeland Security came onto the plane.

Fox News' Bill Melugin reported that the pilot was arrested on charges related to child sex abuse material in a post on X. "I’m told by a senior federal source that the Delta co-pilot was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents on charges of child sexual abuse material," Melugin wrote.

One passenger said that the experience was "shocking and unnerving." The plane had been coming in from Minneapolis and landed at around 9:35 pm after there was some delay due to heavy fog.

View from the Wing said that the other pilot suggested he “had no idea what just happened” when his colleague was taken into custody. When reporters reached out to Delta, the airline declined to comment, referring questions regarding the arrest to law enforcement. 

This comes as the Trump administration and its law enforcement agencies have been cracking down on child sex abuse material, with one of the latest actions, Operation Grayskull, shutting down four dark web child abuse sites and the conviction of at least 18 offenders.