Free Republic

An off-duty pilot allegedly tried to shut off the engines on an Alaska Airlines plane while it was on its way to San Francisco, police said. The plane on Flight 2059 was travelling from Everett, Washington, but had to be diverted to Portland, Oregon, after the incident. Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, said the presence of a "credible threat" in the jump seat of the cockpit’s flight deck. "The jump seat occupant unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines," read a statement from the airline. "The Horizon Captain and First Officer quickly responded, engine power was...

The out-of-control airline pilot who tried to down an Alaskan Airlines flight midair told cops he had taken magic mushrooms before the flight, it emerged Tuesday. Joseph Emerson, 44, an off-duty commercial airline pilot, went off the rails while sitting in the cockpit jump seat of a flight between Everett, Washington, and San Francisco on Sunday — trying to cut the fuel to the engines before he had to be held down by crew members. Even while restrained, Emerson tried to open the emergency doors on the Alaskan flight, which was being operated by Horizon Air, as the pilots frantically...

A person riding in the extra seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air passenger jet tried to shut down the engines in midflight and had to be subdued by the two pilots. The San Francisco-bound flight on Sunday diverted to Portland, where it was met by law enforcement officers. . . . . “We’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit. And he — doesn’t sound like he’s causing any issue in the back right now, and I think he’s subdued,” one of the pilots said on audio captured by LiveATC.com. “Other...

A Horizon Air passenger plane crashed on an island in Puget Sound Friday night, not long after a suspect conducted an "unauthorized take-off" from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state, officials said. Witnesses reported seeing a large plume of smoke in the air above Ketron Island after the plane went down. No passengers were believed to be aboard the Q400 aircraft, airport officials said. No one on the sparsely inhabited island was believed to have been injured, the Pierce County Sheriff's Department said on Twitter.The unidentified pilot was a 29-year-old "suicidal male," the sheriff's department said. The Seattle Times reported...

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and...

The Federal Aviation Administration has begun scrutinizing YouTube videos taken from the cockpits of Horizon Air planes. Although most of the videos have been taken down, the FAA and Horizon Air confirmed they are cooperating in an investigation into possible cockpit violations in which pilots allowed personal electronic devices to be used to record takeoffs and landings. With the exception of filming for training, it is against federal regulations for pilots or passengers to use such devices during takeoffs and landings, as they could interfere with instrument and landing system navigation radios. Cockpits also are supposed to be sterile environments,...