An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot told police he tried to pull the handles that would have activated a Horizon Air flight’s fire suppression system and shut down the plane’s engines Sunday afternoon because he thought he was dreaming and wanted to wake up.
Joseph David Emerson, 44, also told police he’d taken psychedelic mushrooms 48 hours before the flight for his depression and that he hadn’t slept in 40 hours by the time he boarded the plane in Everett, Washington, for a flight to San Francisco, The Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors in Oregon, where the plane made an emergency landing, have charged him with 83 counts of attempted murder. Federal prosecutors have charged him with interfering with a flight crew.
The Horizon flight took off from Washington at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, as CrimeOnline previously reported. As the plane moved over Oregon, Emerson allegedly tried to pull two red handles that would have started the fire suppression system and shut off fuel to the engines, shutting them down midflight. The pilot and first officers stopped him and ordered him out of the cockpit, a probable cause statement filed in court said, according to the AP.
The pilot and first officer said in an FBI affidavit that Emerson said, “I’m not OK,” just before going for the two handles. The struggle to stop him lasted for about 30 seconds, the affidavit said. He walked calmly to the back of the plane when asked to leave the cockpic, but then told a flight attendant, “You need to cuff me right now or it’s going to be bad.”
Another flight attendant reported hearing him say, “I messed everything up” and “tried to kill everybody.”
The flight attendants secured him with wrist restraints, but as the plane descended to Portland, he reportedly tried to open the emergency exit. A flight attendant stopped him by putting her hands on his.
The plane was met at the Portland gate by law enforcement, who took Emerson into custody. According to the affidavit, he told officers he was “admitting to what I did. “I”m not fighting any charges you want to bring against me, guys.”
He also told investigators he thought he was having a nervous breakdown and that he “pulled both emergency shut off handles because I thought I was dreaming and I just wanna wake up,” the affidavit says.
The probable cause statement said that Emerson told police a friend had recently died and that he been struggling with depression, which may have prompted him to take the psilicybin mushrooms. Psilicybin is illegal in most of the country, but Oregon recently legalized it and the Food and Drug Administration has designated it a “breakthrough therapy” that could be useful in treating mental health conditions.
Emerson made his first appearance in state court on Tuesday, when his attorney, Noah Horst, entered not guilty pleas on his behalf. He will remain in state custody pending an appearance in US District Court in Portland on the federal charge.
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[Featured image: Joseph Emerson/Facebook]
