Alaska Airlines pilot indicted for trying to turn off engines mid-flight

An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to turn off the engines during a flight in October was indicted Tuesday by a grand jury in Oregon on 84 charges.

Multnomah County, Ore., District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced Tuesday the grand jury chose to indict Joseph David Emerson, 44, on 83 counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft in the first degree. Emerson is accused of trying to grab two handles that cut off fuel to its engines during an Oct. 22 Horizon flight.

The jury declined to indict Emerson on the 83 counts of attempted murder, which he was originally charged with when booked at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office in October. He pleaded not guilty to the initial charges in October, according to ABC News.

Emerson’s attorneys, from LMH Legal Group, said the attempted murder charges were “never appropriate” because Emerson “never intended to hurt another person or put anyone at risk.”

“[Emerson] just wanted to return home to his wife and children,” LMH Legal Group wrote in a statement to The Hill. “Simply put: Captain Emerson thought he was in a dream; his actions were taken in a single-minded effort to wake up from that dream and return home to his family.”

Emerson’s lawyers said they are still “disappointed” by Tuesday’s indictment and stressed a grand jury only needs to find “probable cause” that a crime was committed to indict a suspect.

He is being held at the Multonomah County Detention Center in Portland, Ore., and is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday morning.

Prosecutors allege Emerson, who was authorized to ride in the cockpit’s jump seat, was having a conversation with the captain and first officer during an Oct. 22 flight when he told them, “I’m not OK,” and attempted to grab two handles that activate the plane’s fire suppression system and cut off fuel to its engines.

One of the pilots grabbed Emerson’s wrist and an in-flight emergency was declared, according to court filings with the U.S. District Court in Oregon, where Emerson faces an additional federal charge.

A brief struggle ensued between Emerson and the pilots before he “quickly settled down” and left the cockpit, filings stated. Pilots were forced to divert the plane — which was en route to San Diego from Everett, Wash. — and instead landed in Portland.

Once the plane landed, Emerson told responding officers he believed he was having a “nervous breakdown,” hadn’t slept in 40 hours and admitted to taking psilocybin, found in psychedelic mushrooms, about 48 hours prior, federal prosecutors previously said. He also waived his right to an attorney, telling authorities he was “admitting to what I did,” and that he was not “fighting any charges you want to bring against me.”