Off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot charged with 83 counts of attempted murder

Officials have released new information about a scare aboard an Alaska Airlines flight on Sunday, Oct. 22, resulting in an emergency landing. The airline said an off-duty pilot sitting in the jump seat on the plane tried shutting off its engines mid-flight.

According to police and the airline, the suspect, 44-year-old Joseph Emerson, was subdued by the flight crew mid-flight after allegedly attempting to “disrupt the operation of the engines” by pulling the fire extinguishing handles on the engines. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.

“The Horizon Captain and First Officer quickly responded, and the crew secured the aircraft without incident,” an Alaska Airlines statement read. “Engine power was not lost despite the off-duty pilot’s attempt to shut down the engines by engaging the Engine Fire Handle, also known as the fire suppression system.”

Flight 2509, operated by Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, took off from Everett, Washington, and was on its way to San Francisco, where officials said the suspect was scheduled to be on a flight crew of another plane.

According to FlightAware, the plane was in the air for about an hour before landing in Portland at 6:26 p.m. PST on Sunday, Oct. 22.

No passengers or crew members were injured during the incident. The scare garnered the attention of U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg who said on “X” that he is grateful for the the way the situation was handled by the flight crew.

Emerson was arrested by Port of Portland police officers and charged with 83 counts of attempted murder, along with a slew of other charges. Emerson was booked into the Multnomah County jail early Monday morning, Oct. 23.