PORTLAND, Ore. — An off-duty pilot driving within the additional seat within the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to close down the engines in midflight and needed to be subdued by the crew, in keeping with a pilot flying the airplane.
Authorities in Oregon recognized the person as Joseph David Emerson, 44. He was being held Monday on 83 counts every of tried homicide and reckless endangerment and one rely of endangering an plane, in keeping with the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.
The San Francisco-bound flight on Sunday diverted to Portland, Oregon, the place it was met by officers from the Port of Portland, who took Emerson into custody.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which owns Horizon, a regional service, didn’t identify Emerson, however mentioned Monday that the menace was posed by one in every of its pilot who was off obligation however licensed to occupy the cockpit soar seat.
The airline mentioned the captain and co-pilot reacted shortly, “engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident.” Alaska mentioned in an announcement that no weapons had been concerned.
One of the pilots advised air site visitors controllers that the person who posed the menace had been faraway from the cockpit.
“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,” one of many pilots mentioned on audio captured by LiveATC.web. “Other than that, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked.”
The FBI workplace in Portland mentioned it was investigating “and can assure the traveling public there is no continuing threat related to this incident.”
The Federal Aviation Administration mentioned it was serving to legislation enforcement investigations, however declined additional remark concerning the incident.
FAA data point out that Emerson has a sound license to fly airline planes. It was not clear Monday whether or not he was represented by a lawyer.
There have been crashes that investigators consider had been intentionally brought on by pilots. Authorities mentioned the co-pilot of a Germanwings jet that crashed within the French Alps in 2015 had practiced placing the airplane right into a dive.
In 2018, a Horizon Air floor agent stole an empty airplane at Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle and crashed right into a small island in Puget Sound after being chased by army jets that scrambled to intercept the airplane. The man advised an air site visitors controller that he “wasn’t really planning on landing” the plane, and described himself as “a broken guy.”
Sunday’s incident occurred on a 76-seat Horizon Air Embraer 175 that left Everett, Washington, at 5:23 p.m. native time and landed in Portland an hour later. Alaska Airlines didn’t instantly say what number of passengers had been on board.
Alaska mentioned passengers continued on to San Francisco on a later flight.
When the soar seat, a 3rd seat within the cockpit, is occupied it’s usually stuffed by an off-duty pilot, however the seat can be utilized by different airline workers or federal security inspectors.
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Koenig reported from Dallas.
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This story has been up to date to appropriate the web site the place the pilot audio was captured. It’s LiveATC.web, not LiveATC.com.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”