A non-duty Alaska Airlines pilot now is facing federal criminal charges for interference in the flight crew’s flight which had to been diverted on this past Sunday in Portland, Ore. after the pilot allegedly tried to shut out the engines of his plane mid-air.
The plane, run through Horizon Airlines, had taken off from Everett, Wash. around 5 pm on Sunday night and was on its way to San Francisco. The Embraer 175 aircraft had over 80 people and crew members on the flight.
The pilot who was off duty, Joseph David Emerson, was in the cockpit jump seat in the seat behind the pilot and first officer. According to an affidavit filed by the Federal Aviation Administration the crew stated that Emerson provided “zero evidence of anything wrong” during the first few minutes during the initial stages of flight.
The report said that Emerson was chatting about weather conditions and other kinds of airplanes. As the plane was moving to the south, over Oregon The first officer saw Emerson put his headphone across the cockpit, and exclaim, “I am not okay.”
This is when the pilots claim Emerson grasped the red handles that shut off the engine. The affidavit states that Emerson’s pilot grabbed his wrist and the two handles “physically were engaged” for between 25 and 30 minutes, and the Emerson “quickly relaxed.”
The pilot ordered Emerson to go out of the cockpit and moved to the back of the plane. Emerson claimed to have told an airline attendant “You must clamp me now or it’s going terrible.” The flight attendant cuffed his wrists. During as he slid down into Portland in the words of FBI they say the FBI, he “turned toward an exit ramp and attempted to grasp the door handle.”
In a conversation by the FBI agent, a second flight attendant claimed to have heard Emerson saying “I am a mess” and “he attempted to kill everyone.”
During an interrogation Emerson in an interview, he told during an interrogation, Emerson told the FBI that he was suffering from an “nervous break” and hadn’t slept for 40 hours. He claimed he was exhausted and dehydrated. He informed the agent he’d pulled both of the emergency shut off handles as “I felt like I’m in a dream and I’m trying to get up.”
The FBI agent states that Emerson has denied having taken any drugs however they did discuss about the use of psychedelic mushrooms. Emerson stated that “it was the first time he had taken mushrooms” in the FBI statement, though it was unclear whether he actually was intoxicated by mushrooms on the flight.
Emerson was allegedly reported to investigators from the FBI that he was depressed six months before.
Even before the latest information were made public, the event raised concerns in the aviation industry regarding how pilots’ mental well-being is being handled and whether they receive the care they require.
A lot of pilots are hesitant about seeking help for mental health issues according to aviation experts due to the fear that they might be grounded by federal regulators in the event of seeking treatment.
“Pilots are trained to manage situations and finish the job,” says Dennis Tajer an experienced pilot and spokesperson of the Allied Pilots Association, which includes more than 15,000 pilots who work at American Airlines.
Tajer states that pilots have a significant amount of money invested in their training as well as their careers, and are scared of losing their investment.
“You believe the job you hold is in danger and the earnings of your family is at risk,” Tajer said. “If I don’t have the motivation to do this I’ll be grounded or lose my job and even lose my house. These are just the worst thoughts that pilots face that prevent them from receiving the help that they require if they require it.”
The stigma surrounding seeking treatment for mental illness has decreased as time passes, Tajer says, but it isn’t gone completely.
Federal regulators are well aware of the situation. The officials of the Federal Aviation Administration have urged pilots to speak up and seek treatment when they require it, stating that they are not going to lose their medical authorization to fly due to the issue.
“Even when you have to be on medication to maintain your health it is possible to obtain a specific certificate from my office” claims Susan Northrup, who oversees the process of certifying pilots medically within the FAA, in a video published on the website of the agency.
“The primary thing that’s important is to get treatment as soon as you can to ensure that you be better,” Northrup says. “We do not want you be worse because of the fear that you’ll lose your health certification.”
Emerson is a pilot with Alaska Airlines for 10 years and is piloting since 2001.
In addition to federal charges In addition, he faces 83 state charges of attempted murder, in addition to various charges such as recklessly putting himself in danger and threatening an aircraft.
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