Alaska Airlines Pilot Charged With Attempted Murder Suffered ‘Panic Attack’ Mid-Flight, Lawyers Say

Lawyers for the off-duty pilot who was charged with more than 160 counts of attempted murder last month, after allegedly attempting to shut off the engines of a passenger plane mid-flight, have said their client “suffered a panic attack.” Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph D. Emerson, 44, was arrested on Oct. 22; the same day the incident occurred on the plane flying from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco, California. According to witness accounts, Mr. Emerson had been seated in the cockpit jump seat, and engaged in casual conversation with the other pilots on the flight before suddenly trying to grab and pull two red fire handles that would have “activated the plane’s emergency fire suppression system and cut off fuel to its engines.”...