Former Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph Emerson told an Oregon judge Friday that losing it all after trying to shut off a plane’s engine midflight left him a better father and husband, and a stronger member of his community.

“I lost, from all external perspectives, everything I had ever worked for,” Emerson, 46, said Friday, voice wavering. “But it’s the greatest gift that I ever got.”

On Oct. 22, 2023, Emerson, then employed as a pilot for Alaska Airlines, hitched a ride home in the cockpit jump seat on Horizon Air Flight 2059 headed from Everett to San Francisco while off duty.

Shortly after the regional jet entered Oregon, Emerson lunged for two handles that, if pulled, could cut off the fuel to the jet’s engines. Emerson later explained that he was suffering from a mental health crisis

See Full Page