Pilot Charged With Attempted Murder In Cockpit Incident Is East Bay Resident: Report

PLEASANT HILL, CA — An Alaska Airlines pilot who was arrested Sunday on suspicion of 83 felony charges of attempted murder, 83 misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and one felony count of endangering an aircraft is a resident of Pleasant Hill where his neighbors described him as the perfect dad, husband and neighbor, according to a news report Monday.

It is alleged that off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph David Emerson, 44, "unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines" on Alaska Airlines Flight 2059, operated by Horizon Air, after the San Francisco-bound plane left Everett, Washington.

Emerson was traveling in the flight deck jump seat — an extra seat in the cockpit typically used by off-duty pilots who are traveling home or to their next departure city — when the credible security threat took place, Alaska Airlines said in a statement emailed to Patch.

"The Horizon captain and first officer quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident," Alaska Airlines said.

The flight was diverted to Portland International Airport, where Port of Portland Police officers were waiting to take Emerson into custody.

• READ PATCH'S FULL REPORT HERE: Pilot Tries To 'Disrupt' Engines, Faces Attempted Murder Charges: PD

Shocked Neighbors Have Nothing Bad To Say

Monday in Pleasant Hill, a suburban city with around 34,000 residents in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay, no one answered the door at Emerson's $1.2-million, four-bedroom home, DailyMail.com reported. Emerson's neighbors expressed shock at the news of his arrest and told reporters he lives there with his wife and two young sons in a close-knit residential block.

"Neighbors describe Emerson as a happy, playful dad, a friendly man with no issues they knew about. He would play basketball with his kids on a court he built for them in the back yard, and invited neighbors over for parties," DailyMail.com reported.

"It is just really shocking, disturbing news," said one neighbor, Karen Yee, who lives next door to the Emerson family. "They are excellent neighbors. He is a fantastic father. He plays with the kids all the time. He's very friendly. He's just a great guy."

She told Daily Mail she wanted to reach out to the family to see if there was anything she could do to help.

"My heart just hurts for them," she said.

Her husband, Ed Yee, told reporters Emerson "never had a negative statement about his job or anything like that."

An elderly neighbor, Lou Rossi, said Emerson is a "really nice man" who recently helped him find items in a local Safeway grocery store.

Emerson also recently lent the neighbor, Lou Rossi, some logs to build a workbench for his son, Rossi told The Daily Mail, describing Emerson as married with two sons.

"I watched the news all the time, and I see things happen in neighborhoods where people say they could never believe someone would do something like this," Rossi said. "All I could do is vouch for his character. I've helped him do things around his house. He does a lot of stuff with his kids. I can't say one word that would be derogatory towards him at all."

"All I could tell you is he is a really nice man, and his wife Sarah is a really nice lady, and they never, ever even remotely made me think anything negative about them.," said Rossi, a retired U.S. Air Force veteran who would sometimes talk to Emerson about planes and engines, just casually.

Rossi said Emerson seemed to enjoy his work.

"He was doing a lot of training time," Rossi said."I could always tell when he was gone because his car would be gone."

Read the full report from Emerson's neighborhood at DailyMail.com.