PORTLAND, Ore. – An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot pleaded not guilty to all charges after he reportedly took steps shut down a plane’s engine while inflight on Sunday. He had to be subdued by the Horizon Air pilot and later blamed his actions on depression and psychedelic mushrooms, according to officials.
“An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot taking a ride Sunday in the jump seat of a flight out of Everett (Washington) attempted to shut down the engines inflight and had to be subdued, the pilot in charge is heard saying in a recording of the exchange with air traffic controllers,” the Seattle Times reported.
The pilot on the Horizon Air flight said in a calm voice while communicating with Portland air traffic control, “I’ll just give you a heads-up. We’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit. It doesn’t seem like he’s causing any issue at the back. I think he’s subdued.”
Once the air traffic controller coordinated the plane for the unscheduled landing in Portland, the Horizon pilot said, “We want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked.”
The off-duty pilot was taken into custody following the emergency landing in Portland and charged in state court with a total of 167 crimes, including 83 counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft, Law Officer reported on Monday.
The criminal defendant was identified as Alaska Airlines Capt. Joseph Emerson. The 44-year-old pilot also faces a federal charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants.
Alaska Airlines Flight 2059, which is operated by Horizon Air, was traveling from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on Sunday when it had to divert to Portland due to the “unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines.”
Emerson pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in a Multnomah County, Oregon courtroom to state-level charges.
According to federal charging documents, Emerson told police that he didn’t take any medication, but said he was depressed and had ingested psychedelic mushrooms for the first time, FOX Business reported.
Prosecutors also contend that Emerson told law enforcement officers that he was having a “nervous breakdown” and had not slept in 40 hours when he reportedly tried to shut down the plane’s engine while positioned in the jump seat inside the cockpit, which is customary for airline employees catching a ride back to their home base.
Off-duty pilot Joseph David Emerson was arrested and charged with 83 counts of attempted murder. He reportedly said he was depressed and had taken psychedelic mushrooms, officials said. (Joseph Emerson/Facebook)
“I didn’t feel okay. It seemed like the pilots weren’t paying attention to what was going on. They didn’t…it didn’t seem right,” Emerson said, according to court documents. “Yah…I pulled both emergency shut off handles because I thought I was dreaming and I just wanna wake up.”
Alaska Airlines said Emerson was unsuccessful in shutting down the engines by engaging the fire suppression system.
“The fire suppression system consists of a T-handle for each engine. If the T-handle is fully deployed, a valve in the wing closes to shut off fuel to the engine,” Alaska said. “In this case, the quick reaction of our crew to reset the T-handles ensured engine power was not lost.”
Alaska Airlines issued a statement briefly outlining the actions taken by the flight crew.
“The details in the DOJ affidavit describing the actions of our flight crew are consistent with our understanding of what occurred based on debriefings with each member of the flight crew. Upon exiting the flight deck, both Flight Attendants confirmed that Emerson was escorted by a Flight Attendant to the rear of the aircraft where Emerson was placed in wrist restraints and belted into the aft jump seat. Our crew also confirmed that Emerson attempted to grab the handle of the emergency exit during the aircraft’s descent before being stopped by a Flight Attendant,” Alaska Airlines said. “Consistent with our pilots’ collective bargaining agreement, we are consulting with our partners in labor regarding his employment status.”
The airline also said Emerson has been removed from service “indefinitely” and relieved of all duties.
