Joseph Emerson in Podcasts

The plane was rerouted to make an emergency landing. Emerson later told reporters that he'd been suffering from depression, and he pled not guilty to the charges that were brought against him. He wasn't piloting that day, but he did have access to the cockpit, and that means that his position, technically as a pilot, put the safety of the plane and its passengers at risk.

Emerson was luckily not successful. He was escorted to the back of the plane, handcuffed to a seat.

In the autumn of 2023, an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot was catching a ride on Horizon Air. It's a travel trick that's pretty common among pilots called jump seating. And this pilot, his name is Joseph Emerson, during that flight, he's accused of trying to activate a fire suppression system that would have cut off fuel to the plane's engines in mid-flight.