Alaska Airlines is being sued by three passengers who were on board the flight in which an off-duty pilot in the cockpit allegedly tried to shut down the aircraft’s engines. The lawsuit filed in Washington state court also names Horizon Air—the company’s regional subsidiary which operated the Oct. 22 flight—as a defendant. The case is demanding a public explanation from the airlines about why the pilot hadn’t been subjected to a preflight security screening, as well as seeking damages for the plaintiffs. Joseph David Emerson, the 44-year-old Alaska Airlines pilot who allegedly endangered the flight between Washington and California has been criminally charged with 83 counts of attempted murder—one for every person aboard the aircraft at the time besides himself. He allegedly told police he had been struggling with depression in recent months and had taken magic mushrooms for the first time around 48 hours before takeoff.
Read it at Reuters
