Former Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to cut engines mid-flight gets no prison time

New details: Off-duty pilot tries to crash plane

New documents shed additional light on the state of mind of an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot that attempted to turn off a plane?s engines mid-flight, causing a flight of people from Everett, Washington to make an emergency landing in Portland. LiveNOW's Andrew Craft spoke about the new details revealed from court documents with FOX 13 Seattle reporter Matthew Smith. More LiveNOW from FOX streaming video

A former Alaska Airlines pilot who cut the engines in the middle of a flight in 2023 will serve no prison time.

A federal judge on Monday sentenced Joseph Emerson to time served and three years’ supervised release. 

What they're saying:

"Pilots are not perfect. They are human," U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio said. "They are people and all people need help sometimes."

FILE - An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 airplane arrives for a landing at Los Angeles International Airport from Washington on Oct. 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

No sleep, drugs and a friend’s death 

The backstory:

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.

He was off-duty in the cockpit that day and following the incident, the flight was diverted to Portland, Oregon.

There were 84 people aboard the plane.

Emerson had told police he was upset over a friend’s recent death, had taken psychedelic mushrooms about two days before and he hadn’t slept in over 40 hours.

He said he thought 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.

Emerson spent 46 days in jail and was released ahead of his trial in December 2023. He was required to undergo mental health services, stay sober and was not allowed to get near aircraft.

He was federally charged with interfering with a flight crew. In Oregon, he was charged with 83 counts of endangering another person and one of endangering an aircraft.