Joseph David Emerson, 44, of Pleasant Hill, California, was an Alaska Airlines pilot who was flying as a passenger and stormed into the cockpit during a flight Sunday, shutting down the plane’s engines mid-air. The suspect was charged in a federal criminal complaint on Tuesday with interfering with a flight crew.
An Alaska Airlines plane. Photo: Reuters
Emerson was charged separately in Oregon state court with 83 counts of attempted murder and one count of endangering an aircraft.
According to the FBI affidavit, after his arrest, Emerson said that before boarding the plane, he had used hallucinogenic mushrooms and had been depressed for the past six months. He believed he was having a nervous breakdown and had not slept for 40 hours.
State court documents say Emerson took “magic mushrooms” about 48 hours before the incident.
Alaska Airlines said Tuesday that throughout the check-in and boarding process, staff did not notice any signs of impairment on Emerson's part.
After trying to disable the engine, Emerson tried to grab the handle of the emergency exit as the flight landed but was stopped by a flight attendant, prosecutors said.
In a statement, the FAA told US airlines that the on-duty pilot attempted to disable the Embraer 175's engine by attempting to activate the engine's fire suppression system while the plane was at cruising altitude.
The action occurred shortly after Emerson told the dispatcher that he felt unwell. “I pulled both emergency shut-off handles because I thought I was dreaming and just wanted to wake up,” Emerson said, according to the complaint.
Pilots are required to self-report any mental health conditions. Emerson had never done so in more than 20 years as a pilot.
Hoang Ton (according to SCMP)
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