Off-duty pilot charged with 83 counts of attempted murder for threatening to shut engines down

An off-duty pilot was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after he allegedly tried to shut off the engines of a plane mid-flight while flying in the extra seat in the cockpit Sunday. 

Joseph David Emerson, a 44-year-old pilot, was also charged with 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft early Monday morning, according to the Multnomah County (Ore.) Sheriff’s Office booking report.

The flight departed from Everett, Wash., at 5:23 p.m. local time and was headed to San Francisco when the two pilots managed to subdue the off-duty pilot and divert the plane to land in Portland, Ore., as a result of a “credible threat,” according to The Associated Press. 

In audio recordings of the conversation between the pilots and air traffic controllers, first reported by The Seattle Times, the pilots called for law enforcement to meet them when they landed in Portland. 

“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,” a pilot is heard saying in a recording of the midflight communication. “Other than that, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked.”

The passenger jet, according to the AP, was a 76-seat Horizon Air Embraer 175. Alaska Airlines operates Horizon. 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said in a statement to The Hill that it “is engaged with Alaska and Horizon airlines and is supporting law enforcement investigations into Sunday evening’s incident aboard a Horizon Airlines flight.” The FAA declined to comment further. 

Alaska Airlines said in a statement that there were no weapons involved in the incident, the AP reported.