![\"This](\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/434UW5CGEI62DKTOEK36UN5JHI.jpg?auth=960fc196bdf827e0817d6f2391090f6e80c39d1c1076ac230f60545d20119bd3&quality=80&height=127&width=190&smart=true\")
<\/p>\nPORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 A former Alaska Airlines pilot won\u2019t serve prison time for trying to cut the engines of a flight in 2023, a federal judge ruled Monday.<\/p>\n
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio in Portland, Oregon, sentenced Joseph Emerson to time served and three years\u2019 supervised release, ending a case that drew attention to the need for cockpit safety and more mental health support for pilots.<\/p>\n
Federal prosecutors wanted a year in prison, while his attorneys sought probation.<\/p>\n
\u201cPilots are not perfect. They are human,\u201d Baggio said. \u201cThey are people and all people need help sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emerson was subdued by the flight crew after trying to cut the engines of a Horizon Air flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2023, while riding off-duty in the cockpit. The plane was diverted and landed in Portland with more than 80 people.<\/p>\n
Emerson told police he was despondent over a friend\u2019s recent death, had taken psychedelic mushrooms about two days earlier, and hadn\u2019t slept in over 40 hours. He has said he believed he was dreaming and was trying to wake up by grabbing two red handles that would have activated the fire suppression system and cut fuel to the engines.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
He spent 46 days in jail and was released pending trial in December 2023, with requirements that he undergo mental health services, stay off drugs and alcohol, and keep away from aircraft.<\/p>\n
Emerson hugged his attorneys and tearfully embraced his wife after he was sentenced.<\/p>\n
Attorney Ethan Levi described his client\u2019s actions as \u201ca product of untreated alcohol use disorder.\u201d Emerson had been drinking and accepted mushrooms \u201cbecause of his lower inhibitions,\u201d Levi said.<\/p>\n
Emerson went to treatment after jail and has been sober since, he added.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Baggio said the case is a cautionary tale. Before she sentenced him, Emerson said he regretted the harm he caused.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a victim. I am here as a direct result of my actions,\u201d he told the court. \u201cI can tell you that this very tragic event has forced me to grow as an individual.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emerson\u2019s wife, Sarah Stretch, was among those who spoke on his behalf at the hearing, saying she was proud of how he\u2019s grown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am so sorry for those that it\u2019s impacted as much as it has,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
One of the pilots of the 2023 Horizon Air flight, Alan Koziol, said he didn\u2019t think Emerson was acting with malice and that he seemed \u201cmore like a trapped animal than a man in control of his faculties.\u201d Koziol said that while pilots bear \u201cimmense responsibility,\u201d he also wanted to see the aviation industry become more open to allowing pilots to seek mental health care.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/7F3LJP7BBECXLVXZBCKJ7OGWJE.jpg?auth=4fae6eabb5484f21cadbab913bb02d92daa12a301327048740c5ec296dbfdfad&quality=80&height=127&width=190&smart=true\")
<\/p>\n
Lyle Prouse, sentenced to 16 months in prison for flying an airliner under the influence of alcohol in 1990, told the judge via videoconference that Emerson was \u201csolidly engaged\u201d in recovering. Prouse said he got sober and was eventually reinstated by the airline and retired as a 747 captain. He was pardoned by then-President Bill Clinton.<\/p>\n
Emerson, of Pleasant Hill, California, had pleaded guilty or no-contest to all charges in September as part of agreements with prosecutors.<\/p>\n
He was charged in federal court with interfering with a flight crew. A state indictment in Oregon separately charged him with 83 counts of endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft.<\/p>\n
A state court sentenced him to 50 days in jail, with credit for time served, plus five years of probation, 664 hours of community service \u2014 half of which he can serve at his own pilot health nonprofit \u2014 and over $60,000 in restitution, nearly all of it to Alaska Air Group. His sentence included rules over drugs, alcohol and mental health treatment, as well as avoiding aircraft.<\/p>\n
The case of Joseph Emerson serves as a reminder of the importance of mental health support for pilots and the need for a safe and open environment for them to seek help. The aviation industry must take steps to address these issues and ensure the safety of passengers and crew.<\/p>\n
Joseph Emerson, a former Alaska Airlines pilot, was sentenced to time served and three years\u2019 supervised release for attempting to cut the engines of a flight in 2023.<\/p>\n
Emerson was charged in federal court with interfering with a flight crew and in state court with 83 counts of endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft.<\/p>\n
Emerson was sentenced to 50 days in jail, with credit for time served, plus five years of probation, 664 hours of community service, and over $60,000 in restitution.<\/p>\n
The case highlights the importance of mental health support for pilots and the need for a safe and open environment for them to seek help, ensuring the safety of passengers and crew.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Alaska Airlines Pilot Avoids Prison Time for Attempting to Cut Engines PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 A former Alaska Airlines pilot won\u2019t serve prison time for trying to cut the engines of a flight in 2023, a federal judge ruled Monday. U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio in Portland, Oregon, sentenced Joseph Emerson to time served […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":16999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-reports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/VNMDD4KMXNCZ3GEDHGZIDWIMCQ.jpg?auth=e34ae552fa687ebf88edc913caf15739f0fbf501c0d32c81385d379d4cc4e0f2&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&smart=true","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16997"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17000,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16997\/revisions\/17000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}