Class action lawsuit against Alaska Airlines in wake of pilot emergency

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air face a class action lawsuit after last month's high-profile incident, when an off-duty pilot attempted to shut off an airplane's engines mid-flight.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three passengers aboard that flight in King County Superior Court.

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"The airlines need a wake-up call," said Attorney Daniel Laurence with the Stritmatter Firm that filed the case. "We understand that most pilots are heroes every day for safely operating our airliners. But they are not immune from sleeplessness, drinking, drugs, or a mental health crisis. Airlines are charged with the lives of passengers and, by law, have the highest duty of care."

The flight began in Everett, Washington, and ended with an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.

Attorneys say Joseph Emerson was allowed to ride in the cockpit's "jump seat" — where off-duty pilots can hitch a ride — even though he admitted he did not meet the federal minimum requirements for pre-flight rest and drug use.

Emerson reportedly was in the cockpit and reached for instruments that would shut off the plane's engines. Pilots were able to stop him. He later admitted to eating psychedelic mushrooms 48 hours prior to the incident, and that hadn't slept since.

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"Airlines can and should take simple and reasonable steps before each flight to challenge the presumption that every pilot who shows up at the gate is rested, sober, and in the right state of mind to fly," Laurence said in a statement. "Emerson’s statements while in the air and shortly after his arrest show that had the airlines here done so, he would never have been allowed aboard. Our clients suffered needlessly as a result. Only luck prevented it from becoming a mass disaster."

Attorneys say that pilots who ride in the jump seat can be called upon during an emergency and argue the air carriers have failed to make sure everyone in the cockpit meets the pre-flight security requirements.

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The Stritmatter Firm says the goals of the case are:

• To get Alaska Airlines to explain why it did not have a "rigorous" pre-flight security screening
• To hold the airline accountable for the effects on passengers
• And to prevent future, similar incidents.

Emerson now faces more than 160 charges, including attempted murder, for each passenger on the flight.

The Stritmatter Firm is based in Seattle. Laurence and Furhad Sultani are the attorneys handling the case.