An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot riding in the jump seat on a flight from Everett on Sunday tried to shut off the engines mid-flight and had to be subdued, the pilot says in a recorded conversation with air traffic controllers.
Horizon Air Flight 2059 from Everett to San Francisco was diverted to Portland, where it landed safely and the Alaska Airlines pilot was arrested.
“I’m just giving you a heads up. “We have the guy who tried to turn off the engines from the cockpit,” the flying pilot told Portland air traffic control in a calm voice. “It doesn’t look like he’s causing any problems at the back. I think he’s subdued.”
“Otherwise we want law enforcement as soon as we land and park on the ground,” the pilot is heard saying in a recording of the conversation with air traffic controllers.
This happened after the air traffic controller prepared the aircraft for the unscheduled landing in Portland and asked the pilot to “tell me the threat level.”
(Listen on the LiveATC website. Go to minute 10:56 in the recording.)
In a statement on Monday, Alaska Air Group – the parent company of Alaska Airlines and its regional subsidiary Horizon Air – said: “The Horizon captain and first officer responded quickly, there was no loss of engine power and the crew secured the aircraft without incident. “
A notice from the Federal Aviation Administration distributed to all U.S. airlines through its domestic event alert network provides further details on what the notice described as a “significant safety event.”
The “jump seat passenger” attempted to “disable the aircraft engines at cruising altitude by triggering the engine fire suppression system.”
“The crew was able to subdue the suspect and he was removed from the flight deck,” the statement said.
The E175 jet’s engine fire suppression system is activated by two handles on the instrument panel on the ceiling of the cockpit above the pilot. One, controlling the left engine, is over the right shoulder of the captain in the left seat and the other is approximately over the left shoulder of the first officer in the right seat.
To activate, they must reach up, pull down on the handle, and twist to lock it. Pulling the handle shuts off the engine’s electrical and hydraulic power and closes the fuel line.
Turning the handle releases a pressurized bottle of fire-extinguishing halong gas.
Alaska Air spokeswoman Alexa Rudin said via email, “Fortunately, some fuel remains in the line, and our crew’s quick response to reset the handles restored fuel flow and prevented fuel starvation.”
A former Horizon Air E175 pilot who now flies for Alaska Airlines, speaking anonymously because he did so without official approval, explained that the pilot in the jump seat – located in the middle directly behind the two pilots flying – may have been positioned too much would be pull both handles at the same time.
Through a program called Federal Flight Deck Officers, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) assigns qualified volunteer pilots as law enforcement officers “to defend the cockpit of aircraft against acts of criminal violence or air piracy.”
At this time it is unknown whether any of the pilots who operated the aircraft had any relevant training. However, somehow they stopped him.
The diversion and unscheduled landing in Portland occurred “following appropriate FAA procedures and air traffic control instructions,” the statement continued.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office website shows that Alaska Airlines pilot Joe Emerson, 44, was arrested by Port of Portland police shortly after 4 a.m. Monday morning and booked into jail.
The booking site shows Emerson is being held on suspicion of attempted murder and reckless endangerment.
In a statement, the FBI said it is “investigating and can assure the traveling public that there is no ongoing threat associated with this incident.”
The FAA said it was “supporting law enforcement investigations.”
The Embraer E-175 regional aircraft took off from Paine Field Airport in Everett on Sunday at 5:23 p.m. The flight was full, with 80 passengers on board, including small children on laps, two pilots at the controls and two flight attendants in the passenger cabin.
The Alaska Airlines pilot was sitting in a seat on the flight deck directly behind the captain and first officer, who were piloting the jet.
This is routine. Any airline employee can book a free return trip to their home airport after the end of their work shift, provided seats are available.
A pilot often chooses the jump seat to chat with the pilots flying. In this case, the jump seat was the only free seat on the plane.
The scheduled two-hour flight was diverted and landed in Portland at 6:26 p.m. after an hour in the air
In its statement Monday, Alaska Air said there was a “credible security threat related to an authorized occupant in the jump seat on the flight deck” during the flight.
“The crew secured the aircraft without incident,” Alaska Air said. “All passengers on board were able to continue on a later flight.”
“We are grateful for the Horizon flight crew’s professional handling of the situation and appreciate our guests’ calm and patience during this event,” the airline said.
Passengers received travel vouchers for future trips.
Another Alaska Airlines pilot, a veteran captain who did not want to be named because he spoke without authorization and without direct knowledge of the incident, said he was “so, so sad” to hear about it.
“We have a great group of people flying for us,” the captain said. “It’s really sad that one of us would do this.”
This is a recent story and will be updated.