Passengers suing airline after off-duty pilot allegedly tried to shut down engines on Everett flight

Three passengers who were on board Alaska Flight 2059 last month which is operated by Horizon Airlines, are suing after officials said an off-duty pilot allegedly tried to shut down the engines midflight. Paul Stephen was on that flight and is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the airline. He said about 30 minutes after the flight took off from Everett, a flight attendant announced there was an emergency and that the flight was being diverted.

“The plane immediately starts going down toward its destination she didn’t say what it was or what was happening,” Stephen said. “I had a full pit in my stomach and it was at that point I looked out the window and I came to the conclusion that this is how it’s going to happen, this is how I was going to die.”

Officials said it was 44-year-old Joseph Emerson, who was sitting in the jump seat in the cockpit who allegedly tried to cut the engines. Stephen said he and the others on board had no idea that had happened.

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“You feel completely helpless,” he said. “The cockpit door opens and Emerson walks out nonchalantly, closes the door, walks by himself to the back of the plane.”

Stephen told us he was shocked that Emerson was not restrained after that. We reached out to Alaska Airlines about this and were referred to a statement from October 24 that reads in part, “Upon exiting the flight deck, both flight attendants confirmed that Emerson was escorted by a Flight Attendant to the rear of the aircraft where Emerson was placed in wrist restraints and belted into the aft jump seat.”

According to court documents, Emerson also allegedly tried to pull the handle of an emergency exit in the back of the plane but was stopped by a flight attendant. Officers arrested Emerson when the plane landed.

“Soon as the door opens five come in, go to the back of the plane, grab him, he had his hands tied and they escorted him out,” Stephen said.

Stephen said Alaska Airlines offered him a $300 voucher. He said he called the airline and emailed them four times but never received a response.

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“That whole experience they tried to just wash away in that email and I didn’t think the response, there’s no offer of grievance or counseling, it was a straight, very cold mail, treated like a non-event,” he said.

Stephen told us that’s when he decided to seek legal counsel.

“We want an explanation but we also want to improve the system, improve the process,” Daniel Laurence, Stephen’s attorney, said. “They’ve assumed the safety of the passengers, have taken the passengers under their wing, literally and they have the duty to protect them and that did not happen here.”