Alaska Air pilot in aborted flight said he used 'magic' mushrooms,
documents show
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[October 25, 2023]
By David Shepardson and Steve Gorman
(Reuters) -An off-duty pilot charged with trying to disable the engines
of an Alaska Airlines jet in flight told police afterward he was
suffering a nervous breakdown, had taken psychedelic mushrooms two days
earlier and had not slept in 40 hours, court documents showed on
Tuesday.
Joseph David Emerson, 44, an Alaska Airlines pilot, was riding as a
standby employee passenger in the cockpit "jump seat" of Sunday's
flight, en route from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco, when the
airborne altercation occurred, authorities said.
After a brief scuffle inside the flight deck with the captain and first
officer, Emerson ended up restrained by members of the cabin crew and
was arrested in Portland, Oregon, where the flight was diverted and
landed safely.
He was charged in Oregon state court on Tuesday with 83 counts of
attempted murder - one for every person aboard the plane besides himself
- and a single count of endangering an aircraft.
He pleaded not guilty to those charges at a brief arraignment on Tuesday
in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, and was ordered to remain
in custody pending a detention hearing to be held within the next five
days.
Emerson was charged separately in federal court with one count of
interfering with flight crew members and attendants.
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The criminal complaints in both cases were filed with sworn affidavits
from investigators outlining a harrowing sequence of events that came
close to shutting down hydraulic operation and fuel to both engines of
the twin-jet aircraft, an Embraer 175.
Alaska Airlines reported no blemishes in Emerson's employment record.
And the head of a California flying club he once belonged to said
Sunday's alleged behaviour was completely at odds with the meticulous,
mild-mannered family man he remembered Emerson to be.
MENTAL CRISIS SUGGESTED
According to the affidavits, Emerson told police after his arrest that
he was suffering a mental crisis during the incident and had struggled
with depression for the past six months.
The court documents said he also told police that he had taken "magic
mushrooms" for the first time, ingesting them about 48 hours before
boarding the plane.
Alaska Air Group, the airline's parent company, said in a statement on
Tuesday that at no time during the check-in or boarding process did
employees observe any signs of impairment that would have led them to
prevent Emerson from flying.
Alaska Airlines Flight 2059 was operated by the group's regional
subsidiary Horizon Air, the company said.
Court documents gave no indication of whether investigators had
confirmed any drug or alcohol use by the suspect, though one of the
arresting officers told investigators that Emerson did not appear
"outwardly under the influence of intoxicants."
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![](../images/102523PIX/news_n2.jpg)
Joseph David Emerson, 44, an Alaska Airlines pilot who was riding in
the cockpit "jump seat" and is accused of trying to disable the
engines Horizon Air jet, appears in Multnomah County court in
Portland, Oregon, U.S. October 24, 2023 in a still image from video.
Multnomah Circuit Court/Handout via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Oct/25/images/ads/current/businessdirectory_dailycover_2023.png)
Medical research has shown that psilocybin, a naturally occurring
hallucinogen found in certain mushroom varieties, to be beneficial
in treating anxiety, depression and other mental disorders. A ballot
measure approved by voters in 2020 made Oregon the first U.S. state
to decriminalize psilocybin and to legalize its supervised
therapeutic use for adults.
COCKPIT AND CABIN STRUGGLES
The two pilots who were at the controls of Flight 2059 told
investigators, according to affidavits, that Emerson had started out
chatting with them casually, before suddenly hurling his radio
headset across the cockpit and saying, "I'm not OK."
He then reached up and grabbed two red-colored fire-suppression
handles, pulling them downward, the affidavits said.
A scuffle ensued as one of the two pilots quickly clutched Emerson's
wrist to keep him from fully engaging the handles, while the other
declared an in-flight emergency, before Emerson abruptly quieted
down again and left the cockpit.
The flight crew later told investigators that had Emerson managed to
fully deploy the shut-off handles, the plane was "seconds away" from
being turned into a glider.
In his interview with police, the affidavits said, Emerson
acknowledged pulling the handles, saying he did so because he felt
like he was trying to awaken from a dream.
After leaving the cockpit, he was escorted to the back of the plane,
placed in a flight attendant's seat and was fitted with handcuffs,
having warned the cabin crew: "You need to cuff me right now or it’s
going to be bad," according to affidavits.
Even as he was under restraint, the court documents said, Emerson
tried to grab an emergency exit handle, but a flight attendant
stopped him by placing her hands over his and making conversation to
distract him.
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Another flight attendant was quoted as telling authorities she
overheard Emerson say: "I messed everything up," and that he had
stated that he had "tried to kill everybody."
Emerson joined Alaska Air Group as a Horizon first officer in August
2001 and became a captain at Alaska Airlines in 2019, the carrier
said, adding that "at no point were his certifications denied,
suspended or revoked."
A Federal Aviation Administration pilot database showed Emerson
received a medical clearance last month. Aviators are expected to
self-report any mental health conditions.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Allison Lampert; Additional
reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Jonathan Oatis,
Mark Porter and Jamie Freed)
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