PORTLAND, Ore.-An Alaska Airlines flight from Everett to San Francisco was diverted and an off-duty pilot was arrested after trying to shut off the planes engine in mid-air on October 22.
According to Alaska Airlines, flight 2059 was diverted shortly after takeoff around 5:30 p.m., due to a “credible security” threat from a person in the flight deck jump seat.
An NBC report on the in-flight incident revealed that the individual tried to turn off the plane’s engines. Audio from the cockpit to air traffic control confirmed those reports and the plane landed in Portland around 6:30 p.m.
“As a heads up. We’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit. It doesn’t sound like he’s got any issue in the back right now. I think he’s subdued,” the pilot of the plane told air traffic control.
Off-duty pilots are often allowed to sit in the jump seat of the flight deck on return flights to their home bases according to NBC’s reporting. The 44-year-old off duty pilot was arrested by Port of Portland Police when the plane landed.
According to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, the pilot was booked on suspicion of 83 counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft.
