Off-duty pilot tries to shut down jet's engines in mid-air, passenger says he had ‘mental breakdown'

NEW DELHI: An off-duty

Alaska Airlines pilot

, who attempted to shut down the

engines

of a packed-out flight with passengers, reportedly suffered a “mental breakdown” in the air and was arrested after the

aircraft

landed.
Joseph

Emerson

, 44, had been sitting in the jump seat beside the operating pilot when he allegedly lept for the controls and attempted to activate the fire-suppression system on the plane — a move which would have cut off fuel to the engines and eventually sent the plane plummeting to the ground.
After Emerson's action, the flight's captain tries to restrain him and then makes an emergency landing in Portland. After the landing, Emerson was detained with a myriad of charges, including 83 counts of attempted murder, The New York Post reported.
“The flight attendant got back on the speaker and said, plain and simple, ‘He had a

mental breakdown

. We needed to get him off the plane immediately,'” passenger Aubrey Gavello told ABC News.

Alaska Airlines confirmed the incident, noting power was never lost to the plane and all passengers and crew were landed safely.
A married father of two, neighbors in his Pleasant Hill community just outside of San Francisco were left dumbfounded by news of the incident. The pilot's neighbours called him a doting father and devoted husband.
“It is just really shocking, disturbing news,” next-door neighbor Karen Yee told the Daily Mail.

“They are excellent neighbors. He is a fantastic father. He plays with the kids all the time. He’s very friendly. He’s just a great guy.
“We have a son with special needs, and he’s very good to him,” Yee said. “We just couldn’t imagine him doing anything to hurt someone.”
Another neighbor, elderly Air Force veteran Lou Rossi, said he and Emerson often spoke about airplanes and jet engines together.
“All I could do is vouch for his character,’ Rossi said. “I’ve helped him do things around his house. He does a lot of stuff with his kids. I can’t say one word that would be derogatory towards him at all.”
Meanwhile, she further said that they could not believe the news when it flashed on television.
“All I could tell you is he is a really nice man, and his wife Sarah is a really nice lady, and they never, ever even remotely made me think anything negative about them,” he said.
In addition to the attempted murder charges, Emerson faces an additional 83 counts of recklessly endangering another person, and one count for endangering an aircraft in the first degree, according to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.
Emerson is being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland, where he is awaiting arraignment, reported The New York Post.