Class Action lawsuit filed against Alaska Airlines on behalf of passengers endangered by homicidal “jump seat” pilot
November 2, 2023

Seattle, WA – The law firm Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore (The Stritmatter Firm) has filed a class action lawsuit against Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air on behalf of the passengers aboard Alaska Airlines flight 2059 from Everett, WA to San Francisco on Sunday, October 22, 2023, operated by Alaska Airlines’ affiliate, Horizon Air.
An Alaska Airlines off-duty pilot, Joseph David Emerson, who has admitted that he did not meet federal minimum requirements for pre-flight rest and prohibiting drug abuse and was having a mental crisis, was allowed to ride in the cockpit’s “jump seat.” After the flight reached cruising altitude, he reportedly threw off his headphones, declared he was “not OK,” and activated an emergency shutdown of the plane’s engines—nearly killing everyone on board.
Following a struggle, the on-duty flight crew revived the engines with only seconds to spare. Emerson left the cockpit and walked to the rear of the aircraft, where he tried to open the emergency exit door. Emerson is currently facing 167 counts of attempted murder and other crimes after the flight was forced to divert and landed in Portland, Oregon.
Emerson not only told the flight crew while in the air that he was not in his right mind. He later admitted to a flight attendant that he had tried to kill everybody. After he was arrested, he told law enforcement that he had been depressed for months, had been without sleep for approximately 40 hours, and had taken psychedelic mushrooms 48 hours prior to the incident.
Pilots who ride in a cockpit jump seat may be called upon in an emergency. Prior tragedies show pilots have knowledge that can lead them to cause disasters intentionally. However, neither Alaska Airlines nor Horizon Air has explained any effort it took shortly before Emerson boarded to question or otherwise screen him about any condition that would disqualify him from being in the cockpit at the time or piloting the aircraft in an emergency.

https://www.stritmatter.com/firm-blog/class-action-lawsuit-filed-against-alaska-airlines