On a flight from Seattle to San Francisco, an off-duty pilot aboard an Alaska Airlines aircraft attempted to shut down the plane’s engines. However, the crew members managed to restrain him, and the plane made a safe landing in Portland, Oregon, as reported by officials on Monday.
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The off-duty pilot, identified as Joseph David Emerson, was arrested in Portland on Sunday. He was charged with 83 counts each of attempted murder and reckless endangerment, along with a single count of aircraft endangerment, as per the local prosecutor’s office. Emerson, aged 44, is expected to face formal charges in a Multnomah County court in Portland on Tuesday, where he is scheduled for an afternoon arraignment and plea entry, according to a spokesperson for the county district attorney.
Alaska Airlines Flight 2059, operated by Horizon Air, a regional subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, left Everett, Washington for San Francisco on Sunday. However, due to a reported security threat, the flight was diverted to Portland. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) informed U.S. airlines via a notice that the off-duty pilot, who was flying as a “validated jump seat passenger,” tried to disable the engines of the Embraer 175 twin-jet by attempting to trigger the engine fire-suppression system while the plane was cruising.
According to the FAA notice, the crew successfully subdued the suspect and removed him from the flight deck. Alaska Airlines confirmed that the engines were never disabled.
