The Alaska Airlines Attack

David Thornton

David Thornton is a freelance writer and professional pilot who has also lived in Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia and Emmanuel College. He is Christian conservative/libertarian who was fortunate enough to have seen Ronald Reagan in person during his formative years. A former contributor to The Resurgent, David now writes for the Racket News with fellow Resurgent alum, Steve Berman, and his personal blog, CaptainKudzu. He currently lives with his wife and daughter near Columbus, Georgia. His son is serving in the US Air Force. You can find him on Twitter @CaptainKudzu and Facebook.

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19 Responses

  1. InMD says:

    This was all disturbing to hear about, and it was the first news story on when I got in my car yesterday, ironically at the airport. I’m a bit of a nervous flyer and these kinds of incidents always give me the heebie jeebies. I am actually pretty proud of myself for just having done 4 flights in 5 days so I could go to my brother’s wedding in Germany. All of them went really well, with the possible exception of an aborted landing at my final stop yesterday, that seemed to happen after we had already touched the ground, which is not something I had ever experienced before. The captain was pretty reassuring about it but no explanation was given as to why it happened. We just circled back around then the next time landed as normal.Report

  2. KenB says:

    Thanks for the writeup — I’d only seen the headlines didn’t quite understand what was going on, but this clarifies it well. Given that you have some subject matter expertise here, do you think this was just an example of the system working, or are there changes that could be made for better protection whose drawbacks wouldn’t outweigh the benefits?Report

    • David Thornton in reply to KenB says:

      I don’t think the system worked here at all.

      The perp slipped through the cracks and somehow got in the jumpseat when his mental state shouldn’t have allowed him near the cockpit.

      We really don’t have much of a system to guard against this sort of thing. Pilots self-report mental problems (and many other medical problems as well) while the backup system is for their fellow employees to report them to the company or the union’s professional standards reps.

      It’s a difficult problem to solve. No one really wants more FAA intrusion into personal matters and commuting pilots need access to jumpseats, but those are the most obvious answers.Report

      • Kazzy in reply to David Thornton says:

        “I don’t think the system worked here at all.”

        “We really don’t have much of a system to guard against this sort of thing.”

        So it seems more like the latter than the former, insofar as a non-existent system can’t be expected to work.

        If you could design a system to try to prevent or minimize the risk of such events, what would it be? Mandatory psychological testing of some kind?Report

  3. Pinky says:

    Someone asks you to do an aviation story, and this happens. Please stop writing about House Republican leadership.Report

  4. Jaybird says:

    Kids: Don’t Do Drugs.

    During a police interview, Emerson said he was having “a nervous breakdown,” and hadn’t slept for 40 hours, and felt dehydrated and tired. He admitted to pulling the handles and said he did it because “I thought I was dreaming and I just wanna wake up.”

    “The officer and Emerson talked about the use of psychedelic mushrooms and Emerson said it was his first time taking mushrooms,” a probable cause document said.

    Report

    • Pinky in reply to Jaybird says:

      Also, kids, don’t give mushrooms to pilots.

      I don’t know about you, but I’d have no idea how to get my hands on magic mushrooms for the first time. And I definitely wouldn’t have my first experience in a cockpit. It makes the “first time” part of the story hard to believe. But maybe he got high then went to the airport and got on a plane while tripping? That suggests a weakness in the system.Report

      • Jaybird in reply to Pinky says:

        “I haven’t slept in 40 hours” tells me that the dude should have called in sick.

        There are states where Magic Mushrooms are legal and Warshington is one of them (so is Colorado, for that matter).

        I’m guessing that it’s like weed. If there aren’t official establishments where you can purchase a bag, you can talk to a guy who knows a guy and buy some without getting hassled by the cops.

        And now it seems likely that your therapist is the guy who knows the guy who knows a guy.Report

        • fillyjonk in reply to Jaybird says:

          I think even if certain items are legal, there are some jobs – like ones where the lives of passengers depend on your judgement and reflexes and general connection to reality – where they’re forbidden everywhere for use immediately before doing that job. This guy had at least three things going on where he should not have been in that cockpit, especially if the report I heard he was deadheading* down to LA to fly a plane himself is true.

          I haven’t flown in over 20 years and this does not make me any more inclined to.

          *heh. Deadheading. because he took magic mushrooms.Report

          • Jaybird in reply to fillyjonk says:

            The guy definitely needs to be locked up. (I don’t know about 83 life sentences or anything like that.)

            But he’s absolutely proven to be a danger to himself and others.

            Let’s hope he gets the help he needs.Report

            • InMD in reply to Jaybird says:

              I’d also say there is a substantial deterrence message that needs to be sent.Report

            • fillyjonk in reply to Jaybird says:

              I feel like required treatment plus probably losing his pilot’s license is sufficient. I don’t think he needs to be locked up in prison, but definitely have rehab be made a requirement of avoiding stricter sentences. If the passengers want to sue Alaska for “pain and suffering” or whatever, that’s something they can try.

              And yes, this definitely needs to end up as a “hey airline* employees? Don’t do this” message

              (*also train engineers, bus drivers, etc., etc.Report

    • Burt Likko in reply to Jaybird says:

      Also it seems he was suffering major depression. That can induce suicidal ideation. Compound a depressive episode with narcotics like psilocybin, and maybe the dude decides checking himself out is the least bad option he’s got to resolve whatever problems look bigger than they actually are. Maybe the drug makes him, for lack of a better word, sort of forget that there’s eighty-three other lives on the plane he’d be taking along with his own. Or something like that. I’ve never used psilocybin to experience what it does to cognition.Report

      • Jaybird in reply to Burt Likko says:

        Well, from some light googling, it doesn’t look like it’s as easy to buy mushrooms as it is to buy weed. I mean, when I google, “where do I buy weed in Denver”, I get a half-dozen shops within a mile of I-70 and Colorado.

        When I google “where do I buy mushrooms in Denver”, I get a bunch of “grow your own” stores and a handful of places that sell non-psychedelics (Lion’s Mane mushrooms appear to be a thing? Friggin’ hippies).

        Wait. I should google Seattle (now the cops are going to come to my house…) and… yeah. You can get a bag from a dispensary off of Queen Street.

        The guy who sold him the bag should have said “if this is your first time, make sure you have a good co-pilot”. And, heck, the guy who took them for the first time should have asked “Do I need a co-pilot?” and concluded “HELL YES I DO”.

        Jeez louise.

        I mean, don’t do drugs.Report

  5. North says:

    Fascinating and disturbing story but an excellent write up. Well done.Report