Key takeaways:
- Richard Russell was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after attempting to shut off the engines of Alaska Airlines Flight 2059 midflight.
- The flight was diverted to Portland, Oregon due to a “credible security” threat linked to Russell.
- Russell is currently being held in Multnomah County jail and Alaska Airlines is cooperating with the investigation.
An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot has been charged with over 80 counts of attempted murder after he allegedly attempted to shut off a plane’s engines midflight on Sunday.
Alaska Airlines Flight 2059 was diverted to Portland, Oregon due to a “credible security” threat linked to a person in the cockpit’s flight deck jump seat. The jump seat occupant, identified as Richard Russell, unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines, according to the airline.
An air traffic control recording during the incident captured the pilot saying, “We’ve got the guy who tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit.”
The flight took off from Everett, Washington, and was bound for San Francisco, Alaska Airlines said in a statement. After the plane landed safely at Portland’s airport, police took the suspect into custody.
Russell was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder. He is currently being held in Multnomah County jail. Alaska Airlines is cooperating with the investigation and has expressed its gratitude to the crew and passengers for their professionalism during the incident.
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