Off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot attempted to shut down plane’s engines in mid-flight

A plane crash narrowly avoided in the United States? An Alaska Airlines pilot who was off-duty but sitting in a jump seat in the cockpit on a commercial flight has been charged with attempted homicide by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department in Portland. The man allegedly tried to cut off the plane’s engines in mid-flight, according to the company.

Horizon Air’s Embraer E-175 was en route from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco when the incident occurred on Sunday, October 22. The plane, which was carrying 80 passengers, was diverted to Portland, Oregon, where it landed safely.

According to Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air pilots reported “a credible threat to safety related to an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who was traveling seated in the cockpit jump seat.”

“The occupant of the jump seat tried in vain to disrupt the operation of the engines,” the company said. “Horizon’s captain and co-pilot responded quickly, engine power was not lost, and the crew secured the aircraft without incident.”

Alaska Airlines did not identify the individual, but a man named Joseph Emerson, 44, was charged Monday by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department in Portland with 83 counts of attempted homicide , endangering others and endangering an aircraft. An investigation is underway into the facts. Many airlines allow off-duty pilots to travel seated in the cockpit jump seat, a seat located just behind the pilots.