2023-12-06 13:10:56
A US pilot has to stand trial after his unsuccessful attempt to switch off the engines on a domestic flight. A grand jury in the state of Oregon, where the Alaska Airlines plane made an emergency landing after the incident in October, indicted 44-year-old Joseph Emerson on 84 counts, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
He has to answer in 83 cases for endangering the lives of the 83 people on board and in one case for endangering an aircraft, as the responsible public prosecutor Mike Schmidt explained. No charges of attempted murder were filed. Emerson is due in court on Thursday.
“I thought I was dreaming”
After the incident, the airline Alaska Airlines announced that on the flight of its regional subsidiary Horizon Air from Everett in the state of Washington to San Francisco, California, the pilot, who was traveling on a folding seat in the cockpit, “tried unsuccessfully to interrupt the operation of the engines.” The 44-year-old man was not on duty at the time.
According to the Justice Department, Emerson reached for switches that would have activated the plane’s emergency fire suppression system and shut off fuel to the engines. However, he was overpowered by the crew and taken to the back of the plane in handcuffs. There he tried to open an emergency exit – but a flight attendant prevented this.
Alaska Airlines plane: Image: AFP
Emerson was restrained by cabin crew throughout the remainder of the flight. The Embraer E-175 aircraft was diverted and landed in Portland, Oregon, where the pilot was arrested.
According to court documents, Emerson told police after his arrest that he had taken hallucinogenic mushrooms for the first time before the flight, had not slept for 40 hours and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “I pulled the two emergency levers because I thought I was dreaming and just wanted to wake up.” He pleaded not guilty at an initial hearing.
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Airlines allow their pilots and flight attendants to travel on planes with so-called standby tickets if a seat is available. When the plane is full, employees sometimes sit on a folding seat in the cockpit. Emerson was suspended from the airline and relieved of all duties following the incident.
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