A former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines on a plane mid-air has reached a plea agreement in both federal and state court.
Joseph David Emerson, left, appears in Multnomah County Circuit Court for an indictment hearing in Portland, Ore., on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. An Oregon judge says the ex-Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines of a passenger flight can be released from jail pending trial.
Emerson pleaded not guilty to reduced charges of reckless endangerment at his arraignment Thursday. A former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to cut the engines on a plane mid-air has reached a plea agreement in both federal and state court.appeared in federal court Friday morning. His plea agreement with federal prosecutors on those charges is 12 months behind bars and $59,000.The sentencing hearing on the federal charges is scheduled for September 17. A judge could decide to ignore the sentencing agreement and enter a different sentence.His attorney said Emerson made the agreement because he wanted to take responsibility for his actions in the hopes of getting less time behind bars.In October of 2023, investigators say Emerson was subdued by the flight crew on an Alaska Airlines flight from Everett, Washington to San Francisco. He was riding in an extra seat in the cockpit. The plane was diverted to the Portland International Airport, where it landed safely with more than 80 passengers on board. According to court documents, Emerson told police he was despondent over a friend's recent death, and had taken psychedelic mushrooms a couple of days earlier and hadn't slept for more than 40 hours.He said he believed he was dreaming at the time and that he was trying to wake himself up by grabbing two red handles that would have activated the plane's fire suppression system, cutting off fuel to the plane's engines.He was also charged in Multnomah County with 83 counts of endangering another person, and one count of endangering an aircraft.
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