Delta Airlines flight stormed by police seconds after landing in US

Immigration officers arrested the pilots moments after the plane landed. (Image: Getty)

A Delta Airlines pilot was arrested in front of shocked passengers in the US just moments after the plane landed. He was on board Delta Flight 2809 around 9.35pm on Saturday from Minneapolis to San Francisco.

Around 10 federal agents, including officers from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and air marshals, stormed the plane after it landed. One shocked passenger said they "stormed the cockpit, cuffed the co-pilot, arrested him, walked him down the aisle, and ushered him off the plane". Passenger Sarah Christianson told the San Francisco Chronicle: “A group of people with badges, guns, and different agency vests/markings were pushing their way up through the aisle to the cockpit.” The pilot was taken away by officers and another group came to collect his bags.

Christianson said the flight crew seemed to have no idea what was happening, with the pilot telling passengers he was equally confused by the surprise arrest.

Fox News said a senior federal source told them that the Delta co-pilot was arrested by HSI agents on charges of child sexual abuse material.

Christianson called the incident “shocking and unnerving”, adding: " It was rage-inducing to see someone being disappeared right in front of me."

'Being disappeared' is a phrase used by critics of Donald Trump's immigration raids, where individuals are being adbucted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and held in detention centres or even deported without due process (being informed of charges, a fair and impartial trial, and access to legal representation).

HSI, which is a division of ICE, has not confirmed the pilot's arrest charges or whether his immigration status played a role in his arrest. His identity has also not been released.

Another Delta pilot was detained in Amsterdam just days ago for allegedly failing a breathalyzer test - a result that is reportedly being contested.