An off-duty pilot riding in the extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet attempted to shut down the engines in midflight and had to be subdued by the crew, according to a pilot flying the plane.
Authorities in Oregon identified the man as Joseph David Emerson. He, 44 was being held Monday on 83 counts each of attempted murder and reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.
The San Francisco-bound flight on Sunday diverted to Portland, Oregon, where it was met by officers from the Port of Portland, who took Emerson into custody.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which owns Horizon, a regional carrier, did not name Emerson but said Monday that the threat was posed by one of its pilots who was off duty but authorized to occupy the cockpit jump seat.
The airline said the captain and co-pilot reacted quickly, “engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident.” Alaska said in a statement that no weapons were involved.
One of the pilots told air traffic controllers that the man who posed the threat had been removed from the cockpit.
One of the pilots said on audio captured by LiveATC.net, “We’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit. And he – doesn’t sound like he’s causing any issue in the back right now, and I think he’s subdued. Other than that, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked.”
The FBI office in Portland said it was probing “and can ensure the traveling public there is no continuing threat related to this incident.”
The Federal Aviation Administration said it was assisting law enforcement investigations, but denied further comment about the incident.
FAA records indicate that Emerson has a valid license to fly airline planes. The Associated Press attempted to reach his family members but was unsuccessful. The Multnomah County sheriff’s office, district attorney’s office, and public defender’s office did not immediately respond to inquiries about whether Emerson had an attorney to comment on his behalf.
The FAA, in an alert to airlines, said a jump-seat passenger attempted to disable the engines by deploying the engine fire suppression system.
John Cox, a retired airline pilot and now a safety consultant, said, “It is not hard to activate the fire handles – you want them to be accessible in case of an engine fire.” He said that it is possible to restart the engines once the fire handles are returned to their normal position.
Cox said, “This is an extremely rare event. In 53 years, I have never heard of a jump-seat rider attempting to shut down engines.” He said that the third pilot can be invaluable in cases where a crew must deal with a complex situation.
Jeffrey Price, an aviation security expert at the Metropolitan University of Denver, said that airlines must approve people who sit in the jump seat, but the pilots working the flight can refuse access.
The vetting of crew members is based on trust, he said, and the last line of defense is what happened on the Horizon plane – “crew members physically preventing someone from taking over the flight controls. The system worked, fortunately.”
Airlines operate the third seat to accommodate pilots who require to get in position to fly a later flight – it avoids the necessity to bump a passenger off the plane. Many US carriers will let pilots from other airlines occupy the third seat, at least on domestic flights.
Price said, “For the amount of times this type of incident happens – rarely – it’s probably not a procedure we need to get rid of.” He added, however, that Sunday’s incident will lead to an analysis of whether procedures were followed and whether additional safeguards are needed.
Sunday’s incident happened on a 76-seat Horizon Air Embraer 175 that left Everett, Washington, at 5:23 p.m. local time and landed in Portland an hour later.
Alaska Airlines did not immediately say how many passengers were on board.
Alaska said passengers continued to San Francisco on a later flight.
