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On Oct. 22 an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot traveling in the flight deck jump seat attempted to shut off an Embraer's engine power midflight and now faces over 80 counts of attempted murder and reckless endangerment. The incident brings attention to the high number of unruly behavior incidents in post-pandemic air travel and the steps the FAA wants to take to protect the flight deck. Captain Joseph Emerson was traveling with Alaska Airlines Flight 2059 in an Embraer 175, flying in the flight deck jump seat as an off-duty pilot. The plane took off from Everett, Washington and was headed to San Francisco when he attempted to disrupt engine operation. The crew was able to subdue Emerson and reported a security threat, diverting safely to the Portland International Airport (PDX). Alaska Airlines said in a statement that the engine power was not lost despite Emerson's attempt to shut down the engines by engaging the engine fire handle, or the fire suppression system. This system consists of a T-handle for each engine and when fully deployed, a valve in the wing closes to shut off the fuel to the engine. The flight crew quickly reset the T-handles to ensure that engine power was not lost, subduing Emerson and safely diverting the plane without further incident.
"Our crew responded without hesitation to a difficult and highly unusual situation, and we are incredibly proud and grateful for their skillful actions," Alaska Airlines said.
The situation was quickly mitigated, with Emerson brought to the back of the plane to await authorities upon landing. Passenger Aubrey Gavello told CNN that she was unaware something was wrong until the flight attendant said over the loudspeaker that the plane was landing immediately.
"We didn't know where we were landing, and we didn't know what was wrong," Gavello said to CNN. "But (the flight attendant) assured us we were safe."According to CNN, the pilot told passengers that there had been a disturbance in the cockpit, but many passengers were unaware of what had happened until after they landed. One passenger told CNN he slept through the incident in the cockpit.
"I was right by the cockpit, but nothing woke me up," Passenger Alex Wood told CNN. "Nothing was loud enough, nothing was rambunctious enough to wake me up."
Gavello told ABC News that one flight attendant described it as a medical emergency. The passengers waited while authorities took Emerson off the plane, many noticing his airline employee attire in the process.
"After we did land and the gentleman was escorted off, the flight attendant got back on the speaker and said, plain and simple, 'He had a mental breakdown," Gavello told ABC News. "' We needed to get him off the plane immediately.'"
Gaello also told Newsweek about the disturbing event."We landed and then about 10 police officers, armed, came on, walked straight to the back of the plane where I was sitting and detained him and walked the gentleman off the plane," she said to Newsweek. "He looked dead in the eyes, almost."The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office booked Emerson, charging him with 83 felony counts of attempted murder, 83 misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and one felony count of endangering an aircraft. The New York Times reports that Emerson was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday. The FBI in Portland issued a statement that they are investigating and there is no continuing threat to the public related to the incident. The FAA is also working with investigators. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he was grateful for the flight crew and air traffic controllers who stepped up and guided the plane to safety in Portland. He also stated that the FAA supports law enforcement and will be focused on any future safety considerations that emerge from the ongoing investigation.
According to Alaska Airlines, Emerson joined Alaska Air Group as a Horizon First Officer in August 2001. In June 2012 he left to join Virgin America as a pilot and following Alaska's acquisition of Virgin America in 2016, Emerson became an Alaska Airlines First Officer. In 2019 he became an Alaska Airlines Captain. During his career Emerson completed the mandatory FAA medical certifications in accordance with regulatory requirements and at no point were his certifications denied, suspended or revoked.
Michael Jernigan, a commercial airline captain for over two decades before recently retiring from Alaska Airlines told The New York Times that it was common for off-duty pilots to hitch rides in the cockpit jump seat while traveling between locations or back to home base. He told the NY Times that when he was in the jump seat he would stay quiet until the plane reached above 10,000 feet and then at higher altitudes chat with the pilots. He could only speculate what caused the incident but told the outlet the episode was "very, very strange."
"The airline pilot profession in North America is one of the most highly vetted and scrutinized careers, and for good reason," the ALPA said in a statement to ABC News. "For decades, the United States has pioneered a proactive approach to improving aviation safety and maintaining a healthy work environment for pilots. In addition, U.S. pilots are continuously evaluated throughout their careers through training, medical exams, crew resource management, and programs such as the Line Operations Safety Audit, as well as by the airline and during random flight checks by the Federal Aviation Administration."RELATED STORY:Mental health in aviation - how the FAA is changing views on mental illness
Pilots undergo strict and rigorous medical and mental testing and certification, especially at the level of a commercial airline pilot. Agencies like the FAA have taken proactive steps to encourage pilots to care for their mental health and personal well-being. The agency is working to remove the stigma against mental health in aviation and make it easier for pilots to come forward and get the help they need without being penalized or losing their careers. While the reasoning for Emerson's supposed mental breakdown is pure speculation, the incident raises a few alarms.
Unruly passengers can be a threat to the safety of every passenger and member of the flight crew. In August the FAA said it had referred 22 additional unruly passenger cases to the FBI for criminal prosecution review, bringing the total cases for 2023 to 39 as of Aug. 8.
"Unruly behavior poses serious safety concerns for passengers and crew alike, which is why we are addressing this issue aggressively," Buttigieg said. "If you act out on an airplane, you can face criminal prosecution and fines up to $37,000 per violation."?
These incidents included throwing objects, yelling, threats, approaching the cockpit, attempting to breach the cockpit, smoking in the lavatory, physical and sexual assault, airdropping a bomb threat to another passenger and terroristic threats. Since 2021, the FAA has referred 270 of the most serious cases to the FBI. While the rate of unruly passenger incidents has dropped by over 80 percent from the record highs in early 2021, incidents still occur and the numbers are still up from the post-pandemic surge.
In July the FAA said it was requiring a secondary barrier on the flight deck of new commercial airplanes. The final ruling mandated the additional barrier to protect flight decks from intrusion when the flight deck door is open.
"No pilot should have to worry about an intrusion on the flight deck," said David Boulter, acting FAA associate administrator for safety.
In September an American Airlines flight bound for Washington D.C. was forced to divert to Raleigh, North Carolina after a passenger attempted to breach the cockpit, according to Fox Business. The FAA issued an 11-minute ground stop and paused some flights with Raleigh as the destination. After the pandemic, the number of unruly passenger reports jumped by 492 percent. The number has still not returned to the pre-pandemic numbers.
The FAA's Unruly Passenger Statistics report that there were 1,161 reports made in 2019 and 1,009 in 2020. In 2021, the number of reports jumped by a staggering 492 percent to 5,973 reports. In 2022 it was down by 59 percent with 2,455 reports and in 2023 so far there have been 1,670 reports. In 2022, of the 2,455 unruly passenger reports 831 investigations were initiated, 567 enforcement actions were initiated and $8.4 million in fines levied.
Unfortunately, dangerous and unruly behavior is not limited to passengers. Emerson's actions as a pilot are uncommon, but not unprecedented. According to Click Orlando, in February 1982 the captain of a Japan Airlines DC-8 intentionally crashed into shallow water in Tokyo Bay, killing 24 passengers; in December 1997 a captain intentionally crashed into the Musi River in Indonesia, killing all on board; and in March 2015, a co-pilot crashed Germanwings Airbus A320 into a mountain in the French Alps, killing all 150 on board. The co-pilot was found to have a history of clinical depression and previous suicide attempts, but he had withheld that information.
Whatever the reason Emerson had for attempting to shut off engine power, the incident is cause for concern. The FAA is already pushing for increased safety measures in the flight deck with the additional barrier and is also pushing to help the pilots working in high-stress environments to preserve their mental health and prevent dangerous situations or breakdowns. The FBI, FAA and local authorities are investigating the incident.