The Guardian reports:
An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to cut the engines on a regional jet mid-flight on Sunday told police after his arrest that he believed he was having a nervous breakdown, thought he was dreaming when he pulled fire handles in the cockpit, and that he had experimented with psychedelic mushrooms recently as his mental health worsened, according to a federal complaint made public Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear from the court document if 44-year-old Joseph David Emerson was high on mushrooms when he was on the plane, but an FBI agent wrote in a probable cause affidavit that the pilot spoke with police about the use of psychedelic mushrooms and “said it was his first time taking mushrooms”. After what the flight crew described as a brief struggle, lasting only about 30 seconds, Emerson left the cockpit, the FBI said.
Read the full article.
US pilot who tried to cut engines told police he thought he was dreaming https://t.co/nR2gmXvL6d
— Jules VanDerMeer (@julesvdme) October 24, 2023
NEW: An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot accused of trying to shut off the engines of a San Francisco-bound plane on Sunday suggested that he was on psychedelic mushrooms at the time. https://t.co/dh8PAndu6r
— San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) October 24, 2023
Breaking News: An off-duty pilot accused of trying to cut the engines during a flight told investigators he had taken psychedelic mushrooms. https://t.co/My7N2JYta8
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 24, 2023
NEW: The off-duty pilot who attempted to cut off a plane’s engines mid-flight told an officer it was his first time using psychedelic mushrooms, per the federal complaint
“I’m admitting to what I did. I’m not fighting any charges”
Update shortly @KGWNewshttps://t.co/HXfrchzOZn
— Evan Watson (@EvanWatsonNews) October 24, 2023
Joseph Emerson, @AlaskaAir pilot from Pleasant Hill, charged by @USAO_OR w/interference w/flight crew for trying to shut off engines during flight from jump seat,per @FBIPortland, adding he says he took mushrooms for 1st time, hadn’t slept in 40 hours & told pilots, “I am not OK” pic.twitter.com/5Hbgmk0rjv
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) October 24, 2023