Ex-Pilot Sentenced to Time Served for Flight Interference

A federal judge in Portland, Oregon, sentenced former Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph 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 last year while riding off-duty in the cockpit.

The incident occurred on October 22, 2023, aboard Horizon Air Flight 2059, an Embraer 175 jet en route from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco with 83 passengers and crew. Emerson, 46, of Pleasant Hill, California, occupied an extra jump seat in the cockpit as a non-revenue passenger. Authorities said he reached for two red handles that would activate the fire suppression system and cut fuel to the engines, but the captain and first officer subdued him before he could complete the action. The captain later told investigators that Emerson had said, "I'm not OK," just before reaching up. Emerson then left the cockpit calmly but told a flight attendant, "You need to cuff me right now, or it's going to be bad," according to an affidavit. The plane, flying at 31,000 feet, diverted safely to Portland International Airport.

Emerson told police after his arrest that he was grieving a...