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OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
5:00 PM – Monday, July 28, 2025
A Delta Airlines pilot was arrested this weekend after landing at a California airport. He is facing deeply disturbing child sexual assault charges following a months-long federal investigation, authorities announced.
Rustom Bhagwagar, 34, was taken into custody Saturday night by federal agents aboard Delta Flight 2809, shortly after it arrived in San Francisco from Minneapolis.
Bhagwagar, who was serving as the co-pilot during the flight, has been charged with five counts of oral copulation with a child under the age of 10, according to a statement released Monday by the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office.
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Bhagwagar, a current resident of Florida, became the subject of an investigation in April after the sheriff’s office received a report involving allegations of child sexual abuse. There is currently no publicly available information regarding his place of birth or details about his pilot training or early career.
Passengers and crew were stunned as approximately ten detectives from the Sheriff’s Office, accompanied by federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), boarded the aircraft and took the co-pilot into custody in full view of those preparing to disembark.
“A group of people with badges, guns, and different agency vests/markings were pushing their way up through the aisle to the cockpit,” a passenger who witnessed the arrest told the San Francisco Chronicle.
A separate team of officers subsequently boarded the aircraft to collect Bhagwagar’s personal belongings. The flight’s captain, addressing the visibly unsettled passengers, announced that he had “no idea what just happened” regarding his co-pilot’s sudden arrest.
Speculation quickly circulated among passengers, with some assuming the apprehension was related to immigration enforcement.
HSI later clarified to the press that its agents were simply assisting local authorities in executing a pre-issued arrest warrant.
“This is an ongoing local investigation with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office,” a spokesperson for the agency said.
Delta has not issued a statement regarding Bhagwagar’s arrest, who remains in custody on $5 million bail.
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