Pilot tried to grab emergency exit handle on diverted flight, prosecutors say

Joseph Emerson, the off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who authorities say caused a San Francisco-bound flight to make an emergency diversion to Oregon by attempting to shut off the engines, also tried grabbing the handle of an emergency exit while flight attendants were detaining him, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Emerson, who is already facing attempted murder charges in the incident, has now been charged in federal court with one count of interfering with flight crew members and attendants, the U.S. attorney’s office in Oregon announced in a statement Tuesday.

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