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Off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot charged with attempted murder after trying to stop engines mid-flight (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 8 months ago by return2ozma to c/news

69 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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[–] partial_accumen 151 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The FAA sent alerts to airlines after the Horizon Air incident saying “a validated jump seat passenger attempted to disable aircraft engines while at cruise altitude by deploying the engine fire suppressions system.”

This is what I was looking for. From the title it seems like he just tried to throttle down but he was looking to incapacitate the engines. If he was successful it would have meant the airplane would have been in a glide without power. It seems likely as a pilot he'd know when to do this in a flight too to remove good chances of a safe landing. Truly terrifying!

[–] sebinspace 63 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Great, now jump seats are fucken ruined

[–] Buddahriffic 41 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'd think that in the majority of emergency situations, having an extra person who knows what's going on in the cockpit would be more of a benefit than a risk. Especially given that one of the actual fight crew could decide to go all murder suicide on their flight, and unless the odds of any pilot doing this is greater than 50%, the more people in the cockpit, the more people to fight the bad ones off and take control of the plane and monitor things that would need monitoring in the event that someone successfully disables the engines.

[–] Dultas 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Majority, probably not. Most emergency checklists are going to assume the cockpit crew is the normal count and throwing an extra person is is going to cause more harm than good. The only exception I can think of is UA Flight 232 which while tragic probably would have been worse without someone else in the cockpit.

[–] Buddahriffic 14 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, I should have said, "the cases when the extra person is a benefit are probably more common than the cases where the extra person attempts to murder the crew and/or crash the plane".

[–] EmpathicVagrant 5 points 8 months ago

This was how I read your previous comment.

[–] derf82 25 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I doubt it. Aviation would grind to a halt is pilots and flight attendants can’t commute in jump seats. Besides, this guy was a captain. He could have done the same thing as a pilot, much like the Germanwings flight several years ago.

[–] Tangent5280 3 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Grind to a halt? Can't they just reserve one seat in premium economy or wherever is closest to the cockpit for jump passengers?

[–] derf82 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That would cost airlines a ton and raise airfare for everyone. As it is the jumpseats are only used when the aircraft if full.

And all for what, pulling someone that will just be in a cockpit later in the day or the next day?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

But what about their profits?!

[–] partial_accumen 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm not so sure about that. The only thing more important that security to airline companies is "money". Having to charter flights or wait for availability of their own flights to move staff around would be CRAZY expensive. I have full faith that airlines will look the other way on this one to avoid that cost to the companies.

[–] SheeEttin 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Maybe they'll just start putting them in cabin seats like the rest of us.

[–] partial_accumen 6 points 8 months ago (2 children)

They already do that. However, if all the passenger seats are full (which isn't uncommon) there is usually at least 1 but sometimes multiple jump seats on aircraft that allow airlines to move around pilots and other crew members to different airports. Airlines usually let other airlines fly their competitors staff because they also reciprocate when they need it.

Restricting the crew seats to just unsold passenger seats will likely have a huge impact to operations and ALL the different airlines' bottom lines.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Well, he's fucked. 83 counts of attempted murder will send him into the Stratosphere of jail time. He's gonna wish he just ate a bullet and fucked off by himself.

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[–] AllonzeeLV 52 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (7 children)

If we gave people who don't want to be here anymore access to safe, effective, painless, suicide, desperate people wouldn't have to resort to desperate methods of opportunity that can harm others.

We aren't willing to be a society. We could not be more clear on that point. Visit one of your local tent cities where we leave defective capital batteries to die of exposure and police harassment if you're still hazy on this fact. We aren't willing to help the struggling in anything but empty rhetoric about how, lol, compassionate we consider ourselves. The least we could do is offer an out that doesn't cause a scene or externalized death. Hell, turn it into an industry let our capitalist owners profit more off of it, win/win.

Inb4 "this bastard tried to kill others, they deserve no mercy!" yeah, when you're suicidal, you aren't exactly able to think outside your own pain, even more reason not to continue to let death by gun purchase be the current gold standard of American suicide.

[–] BottleOfAlkahest 54 points 8 months ago (3 children)

While I agree that most of the talk about helping those struggling is empty I think it's a bit disingenuous to imply suicide by airplane was the only option available to him. This happened in America were there are almost as many guns as people. Hurting others during a suicide attempt by trying to crash a plane is a choice.

We definitely need better mental health resources but killing 83 other people wasn't his only option.

[–] AllonzeeLV 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

As stated, when you're suicidal, you aren't really looking beyond your own pain and opportunities to end it. It's easy for someone who is doing all right to tell someone in white hot anguish what they should have done.

Your response is indemic of the crisis of empathy in this country. It's easy for a rich person to tell a poor person what they should have done instead of stealing. Our people much prefer the easy way of casting judgment and advocating maximum punitive vengeance so that they can play pretend we live in a black and white, just nation and world, where everyone earned what they have and the suffering did something to deserve it.

The hard thing would trying to understand for what drove one of our people to this madness to begin with, and maybe even help. But that would be extremely un-American. Hoo boy, lets deep fry his ass boy howdy! Gonna get assed raped in prison itellyouwhat that'll teach him to... value the sanctity of the lives of himself and others?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (2 children)

If he's not thinking clearly, why he would he choose your proposed suicide method? It's a more rational choice but like you've said this isn't a decision being made rationally.

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[–] ricdeh 2 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Maybe you are the one lacking empathy here if you think that it is right and defendable for someone to eradicate 83 lives because they are depressed.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Is it "right and defendable" that a drowning person will quite literally climb on top of you and push you under if you get too close? No, but it won't stop them from doing it.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Well fortunately we're going to have the opportunity to find out what he really was thinking, this time. Until that's released to the public, you don't know any more about it than the people you're shouting down. Since he chose such a specific method, and not on his own plane which would have been easier, there's reason to suspect it was a targeted attack on others. Being willing to die in the attempt is a step away from being suicidal. Would that all attempts at mass carnage were resolved with all lives saved, like this one.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

This America, buy a gun.

Or find a bridge.

Or Google the "best" ways and pick one.

This is something different. Either wannabe mass shooter who didn't think he had the skills to get the body count he wanted, or he wanted his name to stick around longer than the 30 secs that the names of shooters do these days, or he was mad at his employer and wanted to hurt them...or....

Point is, he didn't just want to kill himself, he wanted to do it while causing a standout mass casualty event.

Edit: I do want to add that it's at least possible he had an immediate acute psychiatric issue e.g. Schizophrenic break and thought the plane was full of aliens, or something along those lines.

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[–] genericuser3532523 12 points 8 months ago

“Defective Capital Batteries”. That’s good

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Seriously, fuck the FAA.

They just recently allowed pilots to take anti-depressants ... except they're older medications that all have frequent unpleasant side effects like "inability to have an orgasm". ADHD -- tough shit, can't take those meds and keep your license. Any medication that "has an effect on the central nervous system" is banned apart from a short list.

All it does is encourage pilots to lie or forgo treating their very treatable conditions.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

As someone with ADHD... What the fuck? Driving without my meds is much more dangerous because EVERY sensory input is jumping into my attention span. Much easier to focus on important things while on meds

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

It used to be you could have never been diagnosed with ADHD -- but don't worry! Now the rules say you just can't currently have ADHD or have taken medication for it in the past 4 years.

And yes, these rules also apply to private pilot licenses. That being said, how may professional pilots do you think have mild/moderate ADHD and have to "suck it up" because they want to keep their jobs?

Makes complete sense, especially considering you can have a pacemaker and still get cleared by an AME to fly.

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[–] ricdeh 4 points 8 months ago (2 children)

What a shitty take. No amount of suicidal thoughts or emotional disturbance he had could've justified the murder of 83 innocent people, all with their own lives, loved ones, experiences... You are trying to justify their eradication by saying that it's excusable to kill people if you are depressed.

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 8 months ago (1 children)

In a second notification, the FAA clarified that the security event is not connected to current world events.

I'm curious about how they determined this.

[–] AbouBenAdhem 40 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Skin tone, probably.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Yea, that's what the world needs; More pointless hate and racism. :(

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Has anyone said anything about a motive yet? I haven’t seen anyone say why they think he tried to do it.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I'd say depression, suicidal ideation, possibly just wanted to end it all. Or maybe they sat him between literally every baby on the flight.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago

Unless I am misremembering, they had what they thought was a pretty firm link between the suicide-by-piloting crash in Europe and a pilot’s relationship/divorce.

I mean, “intentional pilot crashing” is probably not in the top ten list of causes of air fatalities, but I wonder if they should have an additional level of screening because of the possibility of job stresses and responsibilities clashing with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Has anyone said anything about a motive yet?

Surely, you can't be serious!

[–] Wrench 8 points 8 months ago

I am serious, and don't call me Shirley

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[–] foggy 5 points 8 months ago (5 children)

Can you imagine if he successfully stopped the engines and the pilots safely glided to a landing?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Okay, I imagined it. What next?

[–] SmoothLiquidation 18 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Now, rotate a cow in your mind.

[–] amansman 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Assume a perfectly spherical cow.

[–] SmoothLiquidation 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Can it be in a vacuum?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

That would have to be megamaid's vacuum...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Rotating is too much work. It’ll be right side up in the end anyway so I didn’t do it. Now what?

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[–] JustZ 2 points 8 months ago

Cool right? Those pilots are heroes.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago

They'd have had a fight on their hands probably. FedEx 705 all over again:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Express_Flight_705

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