An off-duty pilot in the United States has been charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after allegedly trying to turn off a commercial plane’s engines in midflight.

The pilot, who was occupying the cockpit jump seat, attempted to disable the aircraft’s engines during a Horizon Airlines flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco, California, before he was subdued by the flight crew, officials said on Monday.

Joseph David Emerson, 44, was arrested after the plane landed safely in Portland, Oregon, on Sunday, according to the local prosecutor’s office.

He faces 83 counts of attempted murder, 83 counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft.

The FBI in Portland said there was “no continuing threat related to this incident”.

The Federal Aviation Administration told US airlines in a notice that a “validated jump seat passenger” had sought to disable the engines of the twin-jet Embraer 175 by trying to activate the engine fire-suppression system.