An off-duty pilot riding in the cockpit on an Alaska Airlines flight to San Fransisco was reportedly arrested Sunday night after he allegedly tried to shut down the plane’s two engines mid-flight.
The arrested pilot was identified Monday as 44-year-old Joseph Emerson, who is now staring down 83 felony counts of attempted murder and reckless endangerment, arrest records show.
Alaska Airlines confirmed that a commercial flight between Everett, Washington, and San Francisco was diverted to Portland due to a “credible security threat” from an “authorized occupant in the flight deck jump seat,” The Seattle Times reported Monday.
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Off-duty pilots regularly fly for free in the jump seat, which is located in the plane’s cockpit, just behind the captain and first officer.
The pilot’s alleged attempt at shutting the engines down was ultimately unsuccessful and the regional jet, operated by the Alaska Airlines subsidiary Horizon Air, landed without issue. The Times reported that the plane’s pilots were able to subdue their allegedly unruly colleague.
“We’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit,” an on-duty pilot told Portland air traffic control, according to a recording obtained by The Daily Beast. “It doesn’t seem like he’s causing any issue at the back. I think he’s subdued.”
The flight’s captain requested that law enforcement be ready on a jet bridge to arrest the rogue pilot.
A possible motive for the incident has not been released.
Flight data shows the plane was an Embraer E-175 regional jet that departed Everett at 5:23 p.m. Sunday. The Times reported it was filled with 80 passengers and two flight attendants. Records show the typical flight time to San Francisco is approximately two hours.
John Ostrower, a journalist that covers the aviation industry for The Air Current, reported Monday that the Federal Aviation Administration addressed the incident in a security notice to U.S. airlines.
“Last night a significant security event occurred on a US Air Carrier involving a validated jump seat passenger attempting to disable aircraft engines while at cruise altitude by deploying the engine fire suppression system,” the notice said, according to Ostrower. “The crew was able to subdue the suspect and was removed from the flight deck. The flight diverted and landed safely. The event remains under investigation by law enforcement, no further details will be provided at this time.”
In a statement of its own, Alaska Air hailed the flight’s crew “professional handling of the situation” and passengers for remaining calm during the scary ordeal.
“The crew secured the aircraft without incident,” Alaska Air wrote. “All passengers on board were able to travel on a later flight.”
