An SFO-bound flight was diverted to Portland, Oregon, on Sunday after an off-duty pilot allegedly disrupted the aircraft’s power supply, which could have crashed the flight. The man was arrested and faces 83 counts of attempted murder. 

Horizon Air flight 2059 took off from Everett, Washington, just before 5:30 p.m., according to FlightAware. It landed in Portland about an hour later. An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot was sitting in the jump seat, a third seat in the cockpit, when he “unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines,” Alaska Airlines told SFGATE in a statement. Horizon Air is a subsidiary of the Alaska Airlines. 

Bailey Beck, who was traveling home to San Francisco after visiting his parents, said he knew earlier than other passengers it was an emergency because he splurged for the in-flight Wi-Fi.

“My sister has her pilot’s license and is in aviation school to become a commercial pilot. After I texted that the plan was landing, she went on Flightradar and was able to relay updates on the communication between the pilot and air traffic control while we were still in flight,” Beck said. 

Beck said the flight crew made announcements that led most passengers to believe there was a medical emergency. He said it was “stressful” knowing they were deplaning for a more serious situation.

“It was really bizarre because there was no overheard commotion to alert the passengers. The man walked from the cockpit to the back of the plane by himself, where he was then handcuffed to a railing and didn’t make any disturbance from the rear,” Beck said. “The flight attendants said a passenger had a mental breakdown, so it was like he tried to shut off the engines and then surrendered willingly after being thwarted.”

When the plane landed, police officers were waiting and boarded the flight to take the man into custody.

“Authorities in Oregon identified the man as Joseph David Emerson, 44. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office says he is being held on 83 counts each of attempted murder and reckless endangerment and one count of endangering an aircraft,” the Associated Press reported.

Beck said he was aboard a new flight about two hours after landing. 

“We are grateful for the professional handling of the situation by the Horizon flight crew and appreciate our guests’ calm and patience throughout this event,” Alaska Airlines said.