The Brief

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."

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 f

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