Ex-Alaska Pilot Gets Time Served for Flight Engine Attempt

A federal judge in Portland, Oregon, sentenced former Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph David Emerson to time served and three years of supervised release on Monday, sparing him additional prison time for attempting to disable the engines of a passenger flight while off-duty in the cockpit last year.

The incident occurred on October 22, 2023, aboard Horizon Air Flight 2059, an Embraer 175 operated for Alaska Airlines and carrying 84 passengers and crew from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. Emerson, 46, of Pleasant Hill, California, was traveling as an off-duty passenger in the cockpit jump seat when he reached for two red fire suppression handles and began pulling them down. Court documents indicate this action would have activated the fire suppression system and cut fuel to the engines, potentially causing the plane to crash. The on-duty pilots and crew quickly restrained Emerson, preventing any damage, and diverted the flight to Portland, where it landed safely.

Emerson later told investigators he believed he was dreaming and was attempting to wake himself up. He had consumed psychedelic mushrooms about two days earlier, had not slept for more than 40 hours, and was grieving...