Off-duty pilot who tried to cut a flight’s engines midair is released without prison time

Nov. 17, 2025:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — 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 federal judge ruled Monday (Nov. 17, 2025).

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio sentenced Joseph 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 attorneys had sought probation.

“Pilots are not perfect. They are human,” she said. “They are people and all people need help sometimes.”

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 Oct. 22, 2023, while he was riding in an extra seat in the cockpit. The plane was diverted to Portland, where it landed safely with more than 80 people on board.

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 over 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.

Before Baggio announced the sentence, Emerson spoke and said he regretted the harm he caused to society.

“I’m not a victim. I am here as a direct result of my actions,” he told the court. “I can tell you that this very tragic event has forced me to grow as an individual.”

He hugged his attorneys and shared a tearful embrace with his wife after the judge announced she was releasing him, saying his story “offers a cautionary tale worth telling beyond the confines of this case.”

Multiple people spoke on Emerson’s behalf at the hearing, including his wife, Sarah Stretch, who told the judge how the incident had impacted their family.

“I am so sorry for those that it’s impacted as much as it has. But I am extremely proud to be here with this man today, because the growth that he has had from this terrible experience has not only helped him, but benefited all that surround him,” she said through tears. “I just hope people realize that it’s not necessarily the mistake itself but how you respond to it. He has responded with courage, strength and demonstration of extreme resiliency.”

Joseph Emerson had pleaded guilty or no-contest to all charges against him in September as part of agreements with state and federal prosecutors.

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

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 over $60,000 in restitution, nearly all of it to Alaska Air Group.

Half of his community service can be performed at the pilot health nonprofit 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 25 feet (7.6 meters) away from operable aircraft unless he has permission from his probation officer.

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.”

In a sentencing memo, his attorneys requested probation with credit for time served over prison or home detention, arguing that the “robust” state prosecution “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.

OCTOBER 26, 2023:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — What authorities describe as an off-duty pilot’s attempt to shut down the engines of a Horizon Air flight has renewed attention on the mental fitness of those allowed in the cockpit. Joseph Emerson had been flying passengers himself just three days before police said he tried to engage an emergency fire suppression system midflight. He was catching a ride from Washington state to San Francisco on Sunday (Oct. 22, 2023) in the extra seat in the cockpit. He was subdued by the flight crew. The plane landed safely in Portland, Oregon. Emerson has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges. He told police after his arrest that he’d had a nervous breakdown.

OCTOBER 25, 2023:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — New court documents say an off-duty airline pilot who tried to cut the engines on a flight in midair told police he had been struggling with depression. State prosecutors in Oregon filed 83 counts of attempted murder against 44-year-old Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph David Emerson on Tuesday (Oct. 24, 2023). His attorney has entered not guilty pleas on his behalf. Federal prosecutors charged Emerson with interfering with a flight crew. The charge can carry up to 20 years in prison. Court documents say Emerson told police he had been struggling with depression, that a friend had recently died and that he had taken psychedelic mushrooms about 48 hours before he attempted to cut the engines.

OCTOBER 24, 2023:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An off-duty pilot riding in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to shut down the engines in midflight. It happened Sunday (Oct. 22, 2023) on a flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. The plane diverted to Portland, Oregon, where it was met by law enforcement officers. Alaska Airlines, which owns Horizon, said Monday that the crew reported “a credible security threat related to an authorized occupant in the flight deck jump seat” — one of its pilots, who was off duty. Authorities in Oregon identified the man as Joseph David Emerson. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office says he is being held on 83 counts each of attempted murder and reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft.

Extended version:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An off-duty pilot riding in the extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to shut down the engines in midflight and had to be subdued by the crew, a pilot flying the plane told air traffic controllers.

Authorities in Oregon identified the man as Joseph David Emerson, 44. He 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 (Oct. 22, 2023) diverted to Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was taken into custody by officers from the Port of Portland. He is to be arraigned Tuesday.

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 in a statement that the captain and co-pilot “quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident.” Alaska said 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 and was in handcuffs in the back of the plane.

“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 the pilots said on audio captured by LiveATC.net. “Other than that, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked.”

Bailey Beck, who was on the flight, described to SFGate the confusion and stress experienced by passengers.

“It was really bizarre because there was no overheard commotion to alert the passengers. The man walked from the cockpit to the back of the plane by himself, where he was then handcuffed to a railing and didn’t make any disturbance from the rear,” Beck told the news outlet.

Sunday’s incident occurred on a Horizon Air Embraer 175 carrying 80 passengers, including children 2 or younger, and four crewmembers. The plane left Everett, Washington, at 5:23 p.m. local time and landed in Portland an hour later. Alaska said passengers continued on to San Francisco on a later flight.

The FBI office in Portland said it was investigating.

The Federal Aviation Administration, in an alert to airlines, said a jump seat passenger tried to disable the engines by deploying the engine fire-suppression system. The agency said it was helping law enforcement investigations, but declined further comment.

FAA records indicate Emerson has a valid license to fly airline planes. Property records show he owns a house in Pleasant Hill, California, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of San Francisco. The Associated Press tried but couldn’t reach family members.

The Multnomah County sheriff’s office, district attorney’s office and public defender’s office didn’t immediately respond to inquiries about whether Emerson had an attorney to comment on his behalf.

John Cox, a retired airline pilot who is now a safety consultant, said it isn’t hard to activate the fire handles on a jet. “You want them to be accessible in case of an engine fire,” he said.

He said it’s possible to restart the engines once the fire handles are returned to their normal position.

“This is an extremely rare event. In 53 years, I have never heard of a jump seat rider attempting to shut down engines,” Cox said. He said the third pilot can be invaluable in cases where a crew must deal with a complex situation.

Jeffrey Price, an aviation-security expert at Metropolitan University of Denver, said airlines must approve people who sit in the jump seat, but the pilots working the flight can deny 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 use the third seat to accommodate pilots who need to get in position to fly a later flight, avoiding the need to bump a passenger off the plane. Many U.S. carriers will let pilots from other airlines occupy the third seat, at least on domestic flights.

“For the amount of times this type of incident happens — almost never — it’s probably not a procedure we need to get rid of,” Price said. He added, however, that Sunday’s quashed threat will lead to an analysis of whether procedures were followed and whether additional safeguards are needed.

Price could recall only one other similar episode — in 1994, when a FedEx pilot who was facing possible termination tried to kill the crew and crash the plane. The crew subdued the hijacker, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

In 2018, a pilot in the jump seat of a Boeing 737 Max operated by Indonesia’s Lion Air emerged as a hero after helping the crew stop the plane’s nose from repeatedly pointing down. Disaster was averted — or delayed until the next flight of the plane, which crashed, killing all 189 people on board.

There have been crashes that investigators believe were deliberately caused by pilots. Authorities said the co-pilot of a Germanwings jet that crashed in the French Alps in 2015 had practiced putting the plane into a dive.

In 2018, a Horizon Air ground agent stole an empty plane at Seattle’s Sea-Tac International Airport and crashed into a small island in Puget Sound after being chased by military jets that scrambled to intercept the aircraft. The man told an air traffic controller that he “wasn’t really planning on landing” and described himself as “a broken guy.”

Off-duty pilot who tried to cut a flight’s engines midair is released without prison time

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