Off-duty pilot who ‘tried to shut down’ engines on Alaska Airlines flight charged with 83 counts of attempted murder
- The Alaska Airlines plane, operated by Horizon Air, was on a flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco when the incident occurred on Sunday
- The suspect, Joseph David Emerson, was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder and endangering a plane, police said
An off-duty pilot riding in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines jet tried to disable the aircraft’s engines on a flight from the Seattle area to San Francisco, but crew members subdued him, and the plane landed in Portland, Oregon, officials said on Monday.
Joseph David Emerson was arrested on Sunday in Portland and was booked into jail on 83 counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft, according to the local prosecutor’s office.
Formal charges against Emerson, 44, were expected to be filed on Tuesday in Multnomah County court in Portland, where he was due to appear for an afternoon arraignment and enter a plea, a spokesperson for the county district attorney said.
Alaska Airlines Flight 2059, operated by Alaska Air Group’s regional subsidiary Horizon Air, departed Everett, Washington, on Sunday bound for San Francisco but was re-routed to Portland after reporting a security threat, the airline said.
The fight was carrying 80 passengers, including children 2 or younger, and four crewmembers. Alaska Airlines said all passengers on board travelled on a later flight.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told US airlines in a notice seen by Reuters that the off-duty pilot, flying as a “validated jump seat passenger”, sought to disable the engines of the twin-jet Embraer 175 by attempting to activate the engine fire-suppression system while the plane was at cruise altitude.