Off-duty pilot who tried to cut a flight’s engines midair faces no extra jail time

Portland: A former Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 while riding off-duty in the cockpit will serve no additional prison time, a US federal judge has ruled.

Joseph Emerson was subdued by the flight crew after trying to cut the engines of a Horizon Air flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on October 22, 2023, while he was riding in an extra seat in the cockpit. The plane was diverted to Portland, Oregon, where it landed safely with more than 80 people on board.

Joseph Emerson (right) appears at a previous court hearing. Credit: AP

Emerson pleaded guilty or no-contest to all charges against him in September as part of agreements with state and federal prosecutors. He wanted to take responsibility for his actions and avoid further time behind bars, his lawyer Noah Horst said at the time.

District Court Judge Amy Baggio sentenced Emerson to time served and supervised release for three years at a hearing in Portland, Oregon. Federal prosecutors had asked for one year in prison, while his lawyers had sought probation.

After his arrest, Emerson told police he was despondent over a friend’s recent death, had taken psychedelic mushrooms about two days earlier, and hadn’t slept in more than 40 hours. He has said he believed he was dreaming at the time and that he was trying to wake himself up by grabbing two red handles that would have activated the plane’s fire suppression system and cut off fuel to its engines.

The captain and first officer told police after the plane landed that Emerson said: “I’m not OK” just before he reached up to pull the handles. They were able to stop him before he pulled the handles all the way down, the affidavit said.

The Horizon Air Embraer 175 was able to land safely in Portland.Credit: Getty Images

Emerson walked calmly to the back of the plane after being told to leave the cockpit and told a flight attendant, “You need to cuff me right now, or it’s going to be bad,” the affidavit said. Another flight attendant heard him saying, “I messed everything up” and “tried to kill everybody”.

The Embraer 175 aircraft was flying at 31,000 feet (9400 metres) when the incident occurred.

Emerson, of Pleasant Hill, California, was later charged in federal court with interfering with a flight crew.

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A state indictment in Oregon separately charged him with 83 counts of endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft. He was released from custody pending trial in December 2023, with requirements that he undergo mental health services, stay off drugs and alcohol, and keep away from aircraft.

In September, he pleaded guilty to the federal count and no-contest to the state charges, which carries the same legal effect as a guilty plea.

A state court sentenced him to 50 days in jail, with credit for time served, plus five years of probation, 664 hours of community service – eight hours for each person he endangered – and more than $60,000 in restitution, nearly all of it to Horizon Air’s parent company, Alaska Air Group.

Half of his community service can be performed at the pilot health non-profit Emerson founded after his arrest. He must also undergo assessments for drug and alcohol and mental health treatment, refrain from using any unprescribed drugs, and keep at least 7.6 metres away from operable aircraft unless he has permission from his probation officer.

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‘Heroic’ flight crew praised

In their sentencing memo asking for one year in prison, federal prosecutors wrote: “It was only through the heroic actions of the flight crew, who were able to physically restrain the defendant and restore normal operations of the aircraft, that no lives were lost that day.”

However, a pre-sentence report from federal probation officers recommended a sentence of time served with three years of supervised release and six months of home detention, according to the sentencing memo submitted by Emerson’s lawyers.

In that memo, they requested probation with credit for time served over prison or home detention, arguing that the “robust” state prosecution had “resulted in substantial punishment”.

In state court in September, Emerson said he was grateful to the flight crew for restraining him and saving his life, along with those of everyone else on board. He called it “the greatest gift I ever got”, even though he lost his career and wound up in jail because it forced him to confront his mental health challenges and reliance on alcohol.

“This difficult journey has made me a better father, a better husband, a better member of my community,” he said.

The airline has said that other members of the flight crew had not observed signs of impairment that would have barred Emerson from the cockpit.

The averted disaster renewed attention on cockpit safety and the mental fitness of those allowed in them.

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