Free Republic

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...

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...

Privacy Notice An Alaska Airlines passenger inside the cockpit attempted to seize control of a plane headed from a Seattle airport to San Francisco on Sunday, the airline said. A pilot told air traffic controllers a person riding in the cockpit of flight 2059 attempted to turn off the aircraft's engines in flight. An airline's pilots, or pilots at other airlines, will occasionally ride a cockpit "jump seat" when traveling in an official capacity or commuting to another airport. The passenger, who has not been named, was an off-duty pilot and has been arrested by Port of Portland Police Department,...

An off-duty pilot accused of trying to shut off the engines on a packed-out Alaska Airlines passenger jet on Sunday has been charged with 83 counts of attempted murder. Joseph David Emerson, 44, faces the litany of homicide charges along with an additional 83 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft, police documents show. Emerson is believed to have been sat in the jump seat beside the operating pilot on board a Embraer 175 plane flying from Everett in suburban Seattle to San Francisco. He is accused of attempting to deploy the fire suppression system before...

A Florida federal judge and Trump appointee has liberated the U.S. airlines from the tyranny of having to enforce mask mandates. United and Alaska airlines did not waste any time in seconding that ruling by dropping their own mask requirements. ... United Airlines and Alaska Air became the first U.S airlines Monday night to drop their own mask mandates just hours after a federal judge in Florida ruled the U.S. government’s mask mandate requirement for airplanes, trains and other transit to be unlawful. “Effective immediately, masks are no longer required at United on domestic flights, select international flights (dependent upon...

Seattle, WA — Alaska Airlines’ slogan is “Fly smart. Land happy.” It may want to change that the “Fly dumb. Land angry.” Lacey Smith appears to be the latest victim of woke corporate America. The flight attendant was fired by Alaska Airlines, allegedly for her Christian beliefs. This follows as Alaska Airlines has used one of the heaviest hands in the air travel business in enforcing mask mandates, and it has also barred Republican lawmakers from going to work. As for Smith, First Liberty announced on Friday that it’s legal team will be filing charges against Alaska Airlines with the...

A warrant, detailing how a dozen FBI officers ended up raiding a spa in Alaska under false pretenses, has been released. The story first came to major national attention after an interview with Paul and Marilyn Hueper, whose home and business was raided last week in an apparent case of mistaken identity. The 38 page document, below, reveals how poor a job the FBI did in identifying a woman they say was in Speaker Pelosi’s office on the afternoon of January 6th, 2021. In summary, the warrant appears to rely on Marilyn Hueper wearing a black coat and having brunette...

We are on a journey to make Alaska Airlines a place where everyone belongs and has opportunity. We also believe education is the key to equity and representation, with the power to transform the lives of young people––opening doors to careers in aviation and beyond. In partnership with UNCF, this special aircraft is a symbol of our commitment to education and advancing racial equity at Alaska Airlines, and we hope it inspires others as well.

Grier reportedly admitted to agents that he had drunk several beers and multiple shots of alcohol before boarding the plane. He apparently fell asleep on the flight and awoke to flight attendants yelling at him for urinating on his seat. While he was apparently passed out, however, Grier allegedly struck a flight attendant who asked him multiple times to put on his mask, which had apparently fallen off while he was asleep. Grier reportedly told federal agents that he had no recollection of this. Unfortunately for Grier, he is facing federal charges of interfering with a flight crew and attendants....

Bent on destroying Israel, and gripped by vicious anti-Semitism, Baghdad ‘pauperized’ its Jews and forced them to leave for the nascent Jewish state in 1951-2. It believed Israel would collapse under the strain. But the immigrants ultimately helped Israel thrive, and it was Iraq that suffered After Adolf Hitler’s defeat in May 1945, many Nazis melted away from the Reich, smuggled out by such organizations as the infamous Odessa group and the lesser-known Catholic lay network Intermarium, as well as the CIA and KGB. They ensured the continuation of the Nazi legacy in the postwar Arab world. Egypt was a...

A former senior Alaska Airlines pilot who was fired earlier this year after a female co-pilot sued the airline, alleging that the captain drugged and raped her during a June 2017 work trip, has filed a lawsuit of his own against his accuser and the carrier. The aviator, who flew for Alaska for 22 years, claims he was wrongly terminated amid “false #MeToo claims” in a “negligent, flawed investigation.” Paul Engelien filed the lawsuit against former First Officer Betty Pina after the 40-year-old woman claimed the captain, 51, drugged and raped her during a layover on a work trip to...

An Alaska Airlines flight from Anchorage to Seattle had to turn back around after a passenger locked himself in the bathroom and took off all his clothing. The flight took off from Anchorage at 1:21 a.m. on Wednesday morning and returned back to the airport one hour and 20 minutes later. A spokesperson for the airline said the plane turned around because of “a passenger not following flight attendants' instructions." "While no emergency was declared, pilots made the decision to return to Anchorage," the spokesperson told local news channel KTVA. "Flight 146 arrived at Anchorage International around 2:45 a.m. and...

FULL TITLE: Family sues Alaska Airlines after wheelchair-bound grandmother fell down airport escalator and died following surgery to amputate her leg due to wounds from her accident A family is suing Alaska Airlines and a contractor after a disabled 75-year-old grandmother suffered a fall down a Portland International Airport escalator in June and later died. Video captured the moment that Bernice Kekona, seat-belted to her power wheelchair, tumbled and crashed down an escalator, landing near the bottom with the heavy chair on top of her. After her flight from Hawaii landed in Portland in June 2017, the family says they...

The establishment campaign to promote disease-spreading and culture-corroding perversity has reached the point that Alaska Airlines now implies discounts for homosexuals: "At Alaska, we have been longtime supporters of the LGBT community and remain committed to a more equitable society. … To show our continued support we are encouraging the LGBT community to travel, not only to Seattle, but to Pride events and gay friendly destinations all over the country. With that aim, we have put together this section of our site to highlight destinations that support marriage equality, Pride celebrations, and other things of interest to the LGBT community....

Immediately after takeoff from Sea-Tac, the pilot “reported hearing banging from beneath the aircraft,” according to the airline. “The captain immediately returned to Seattle, declaring an emergency for priority landing,” the statement said. “The aircraft was in the air for 14 minutes. After landing, a ramp agent was found inside the front cargo hold, which is pressurized and temperature controlled.”

BURBANK (CBSLA.com) — A man found dead on the side of the Golden State (5) Freeway was identified Wednesday as an Alaska Airlines pilot. Burbank police were called at 5:55 p.m. Tuesday to the Scott Road off-ramp on the southbound side of the freeway, where a man was lying motionless. Paramedics announced the man dead at the scene. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as 55-year-old Alaska Airlines Captain Lee Clifford Morris. The pilot was a grandfather and engaged to be married. Detectives said they consider the death of the Richland, Washington resident suspicious. “We are deeply...

LONG BEACH (CBS) — A Skywest crew radioed authorities Tuesday when two children refused to fasten their seat belts on a flight from Long Beach to Portland, Ore. Officers with the Port of Portland Police Department were called to meet the Skywest-operated Alaska Airlines plane when it landed at Portland International Airport at 7:20 p.m., Alaska spokeswoman Marianne Lindsey told CBS2. “During the flight, the children became disruptive and wouldn’t stay in their seats and wouldn’t fasten their seat belts, which is against federal regulations,” she said in a statement. It was unknown if they were seated at the time...

The former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, has spoken out against Alaska Airlines for their intended removal of prayer cards which have long been part of their service. The cards are given to passengers with in-flight meals. But the airline says there have been complaints about the cards, especially more recently, and have decided they are no longer appropriate. They will stop giving them out, they said, to respect all their customers. “This difficult decision was not made lightly,” a statement from Alaska Airlines said. “We believe it’s the right thing to do in order to respect the diverse religious...

Alaska Airlines, America's seventh-largest carrier in terms of passenger traffic, said on Wednesday that it would end a decades-old tradition of handing out prayer cards with its in-flight meals. The prayer cards, which the Seattle-based airline began offering in the 1970s after an executive spotted them on another airline, were intended to serve as a marketing strategy and to put passengers at ease, a spokeswoman said. The airline sent an e-mail to its frequent flyers on Wednesday explaining the change, which takes effect February 1.

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.justice.gov/usao/mow/news2010/harrison.ind.htm JULY 9, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BLACK MARKET TRAVEL AGENTS 38 DEFENDANTS INDICTED IN MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR FRAUD LOCAL INVESTIGATION EXPOSES NATIONWIDE NETWORK THAT USED STOLEN IDENTITIES, CREDIT CARDS TO PURCHASE AIRLINE TICKETS KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that 38 defendants from across the United States have been charged in a series of indictments that allege an extensive network of black market travel agents who used the stolen identities of thousands of victims as part of a multi-million dollar fraud scheme...