Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut off engines mid-flight had a 'breakdown'
An Alaska Airlines pilot is now facing 83 counts of attempted murder as he attempted to shut off engines during a flight as he reportedly suffered a "mental breakdown" in the air.
On a flight from Washington to San Francisco on Sunday, 44-year-old Joseph Emerson allegedly tried to hijack the plane after reportedly suffering a "breakdown" mid-flight at 35,000 feet in the air.
Emerson, a pilot, who was off-duty at the time, was sitting in the cockpit jump seat of the plane when he allegedly reached over for the controls and tried to activate the fire-suppression system on the air craft. This - if done successfully - would have caused the fuel to be cut off from the engines and eventually send the plane crashing to the ground.
The captain and first officer aboard the flight were able to restrain Joseph before making an emergency landing in Portland International Airport in Oregon. After the plane abruptly landed, the flight crew told passengers why they were forced to land early. Aubrey Gavello, a traveller on the plane, told ABC News : "The flight attendant got back on the speaker and said, plain and simple, 'He had a mental breakdown. We needed to get him off the plane immediately'."
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Joesph was off-duty during the time of the incident (X)The airline later confirmed the incident occurred and added that all the passengers and crew aboard the plane landed safely and power was never lost. After landing, Joseph was arrested and charged with 83 counts of attempted murder. According to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, he is also facing an additional 83 counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count for endangering an aircraft in the first degree.
Following the alleged incident, his next-door neighbour Karen Yee told the Daily Mail : "It is just really shocking, disturbing news," and added: "They are excellent neighbours. He is a fantastic father. He plays with the kids all the time. He’s very friendly. He’s just a great guy.
Yee added: "We have a son with special needs, and he’s very good to him. We just couldn’t imagine him doing anything to hurt someone."
Neighbours of Joseph were shocked by the news (Facebook)
Emerson has been arrested and charged (Facebook)Joseph's other neighbour and friend, Air Force veteran Lou Rossi, told the news outlet that he often chatted with Joseph as they bonded over their love of flying and aircrafts. He said: "All I could do is vouch for his character. I’ve helped him do things around his house. He does a lot of stuff with his kids. I can’t say one word that would be derogatory towards him at all."
Rossi continued: "I watched the news all the time, and I see things happen in neighbourhoods where people say they could never believe someone would do something like this," and added: "All I could tell you is he is a really nice man, and his wife Sarah is a really nice lady, and they never, ever even remotely made me think anything negative about them."
Joseph is currently being held at the Multnomah County Detention Centre in Portland, Oregon where he is awaiting his arraignment.
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