Pilot Facing 83 Attempted Murder Charges After Scary In-Flight Incident

Pilots and cabin crew are often used to fellow airline employees sitting in the “jump seat” when commuting or flying while off the clock. One off-duty Alaska Airlines captain riding in the jump seat gave his pilots quite the shock when he allegedly climbed into the cockpit and attempted to turn off the plane’s engines mid-flight.

Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, ran the almost ill-fated flight from Everett, WA to San Francisco. “The jump seat occupant unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines,” the airline said in a statement, per NBC News. Forty-four-year-old Joseph David Emerson allegedly “attempted to disable aircraft engines while at cruise altitude by deploying the engine fire suppressions system,” according to the airline. 

Luckily, the flight crew quickly sprang into action. “The Horizon captain and first officer quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident,” the airline explained. 

After subduing the unruly jump seat passenger, the pilots spoke with air traffic control to give an update before they landed. “As a heads up, we’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit,” communications audio revealed. “It doesn’t sound like he’s got any issue in the back right now. I think he’s subdued.” Even though they were able to get the situation under control, they knew that the proper authorities needed to get involved after what just happened: “Other than that we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked.”

Emerson was arrested upon arrival at the gate and taken into custody on 83 counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment, and one count of endangering an aircraft. Alaska Airlines, meanwhile, is “grateful for the professional handling of the situation by the Horizon flight crew.”