An Alaska Airlines passenger says he slept right through what police called an attempt to kill him and everyone on board: report

24.10.2023 - 11:25 / insider.com / Joseph Emerson

An Alaska Airlines flight narrowly avoided disaster on Sunday after an off-duty pilot tried to shut off the plane's engines mid-air, according to authorities and the airline.

Most of the 83 passengers aboard Horizon Air-operated Flight 2059 — headed from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco, California — were completely oblivious to what was happening in the cockpit.

This included one man, identified as Alex Wood, who told CNN on Monday that he slept through the entire drama.

Wood, who was seated at the front of the plane, told the outlet that he had headphones on and was getting some rest on the flight.

"I was right by the cockpit, but nothing woke me up," Wood told CNN. "Nothing was loud enough, nothing was rambunctious enough to wake me up."

Wood said he only noticed something was wrong after the captain told passengers through the loudspeaker that there had been a "disturbance in the cockpit" and that the plane had to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.

The flight successfully landed in Portland and the off-duty pilot in question was arrested.

He was later identified by police as 44-year-old Joseph Emerson, who had hitched a ride in the flight deck "jump seat" of the cockpit — which is not uncommon.

But after the plane reached cruise altitude, Emerson had tried to shut down both of the Embraer 175's engines by pulling its fire extinguisher handles, Alaska Airlines told Insider's Natalie Musumeci.

"The jump seat occupant unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines," the airline said. "The Horizon Captain and First Officer quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident."

Port of Portland Police Department also told Insider that Emerson caused an "in-flight disturbance in the cockpit" and that the "flight crew was able to detain the subject."

In an audio recording, posted on LiveATC.net, one of the plane's pilots can be heard telling an air traffic controller that "we've got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit."

"I think he is subdued," the pilot added.

Alaska Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Emerson, a married father-of-two, is facing charges that include 83 felony counts of attempted murder, The New York Post reported.

Wood and one other passenger, Aubrey Gavello, said they were impressed with how well crew members dealt with the situation.

"It was all handled super well," Wood told CNN

Gavello told "Laura Coates Live" on Monday: "I'm honestly grateful that we didn't know anything when they rebooked us and got us on a second plane."

"I don't know if I would have felt comfortable doing that if we had all the information," she added.