In a recent interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” 44-year-old off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph Emerson broke his silence about the shocking incident that occurred on October 22, 2023. Mr. Emerson, who was sitting in the cockpit’s jump seat, reportedly attempted to shut down the plane’s engines by activating the fire suppression system while the plane was in the air. He attributed his actions to a mental breakdown, saying he was struggling with depression and had ingested psychedelic mushrooms 48 hours before the incident.
In the latest interview, Mr Emerson explained the emotional triggers that led him to take psychedelic mushrooms, revealing he had spent the previous weekend reminiscing about his best friend Scott, who died a few years ago. He began to lose touch with reality and felt he was “trapped” in a “fantasy” plane.
”I thought, ‘This will wake me up. I know what the levers do on a real airplane, and I need to wake up to this. You know, this is 30 seconds of my life that I want to change, and I can’t,” Mr. Emerson said. ABC.
He said, “I felt like I was trapped, like, ‘Am I stuck on this airplane and now I’m never going to be able to go home?'”
When the plane landed, Emerson was taken into custody by Port of Portland police and charged with 83 counts of attempted murder. Moments after being removed from the cockpit, he sent a text message to his wife, Sarah.
“I made a huge mistake,” the message read.
He spent the next 45 days in jail before posting bail. Murder charges against him have now been dropped, but the former pilot still faces more than 80 state and federal charges. He was released from custody in December and is awaiting trial.
“Ultimately, I accept responsibility for the choices I made. They are my choices. I expect that through the judicial processes not just the 30 seconds of the incident but the entirety of my experience will be taken into account, because society will judge me based on what happened to me. And I will accept the debt that society places on me,” Mr. Emerson said.
The former pilot has now started a nonprofit organization called Clear Skies Ahead, which aims to provide vital support to pilots struggling with mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse.
