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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial |
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ARTICLE VIEW: |
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Ex-pilot accused of trying to cut a passenger flight’s engines |
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reaches plea deals, his lawyer says |
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By Associated Press |
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Updated: |
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2:20 PM EDT, Fri September 5, 2025 |
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Source: AP |
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A former Alaska Airlines pilot accused of of a passenger flight in 2023 |
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while riding off-duty in the cockpit is due to enter guilty and |
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no-contest pleas in federal and state courts on Friday as part of |
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agreements with prosecutors. |
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Joseph Emerson reached the plea agreements because he wants to take |
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responsibility for his actions and hopes to avoid further time behind |
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bars, said his attorney, Noah Horst. |
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Emerson was subdued by the flight crew after trying to cut the engines |
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of a Horizon Air flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on |
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Oct. 22, 2023, while he was riding in an extra seat in the cockpit. The |
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plane was diverted to Portland, where it landed safely with more than |
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80 people on board. |
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Emerson he was despondent over a friend’s recent death, had taken |
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psychedelic mushrooms about two days earlier, and hadn’t slept in |
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over 40 hours. He has said he believed he was dreaming at the time and |
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that he was trying to wake himself up by grabbing two red handles that |
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would have activated the plane’s fire suppression system and cut off |
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fuel to its engines. |
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Emerson, of Pleasant Hill, California, was charged in federal court |
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with interfering with a flight crew. A state indictment in Oregon |
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separately charged him with 83 counts of endangering another person and |
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one count of endangering an aircraft. |
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He previously pleaded not guilty to all the charges, and in December |
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2023 he was released from custody pending trial, with requirements that |
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he undergo mental health services, stay off drugs and alcohol, and keep |
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away from aircraft. |
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On Friday, Emerson was expected to plead guilty to the federal count |
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and no-contest to the state charges, which carries the same legal |
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effect as a guilty plea. |
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Under the federal agreement, prosecutors can recommend that Emerson |
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serve up to a year in prison, while his attorneys will ask that he |
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serve no additional time. The conditions of the state agreement include |
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five years of probation, 664 hours of community service — eight hours |
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for each person he endangered — and $60,569 in restitution, nearly |
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all of it to Alaska Air Group, Horst said. |
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Half of his community service can be performed at a Emerson founded |
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after his arrest. He must also undergo assessments for drug and alcohol |
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and mental health treatment, refrain from using any non-prescribed |
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drugs, and keep at least 25 feet (7.6 meters) away from operable |
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aircraft unless he has permission from his probation officer. |
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The averted disaster renewed attention on and the of those allowed in |
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them. |
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