A man working for Alaska Airlines, who was off-duty, is being charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after trying to shut down a plane’s engine during a flight.
Investigators later reported, Joseph David Emerson, 44, had taken psychedelic mushrooms prior to the incident. He had consumed the mushrooms and hadn’t slept in 40 hours.
A separate affidavit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court also noted that Emerson admitted to taking the mushrooms 48 hours before the flight.
Emerson was sitting in the jump seat in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight operated by subsidiary Horizon Air from Seattle to San Francisco when authorities say he attempted to shut off the plane’s engines by pulling the engine fire handle, which is a plane’s fire suppression system.
In his interview with investigators, Emerson said, “I had been feeling depressed and in the cockpit said out loud “I am not okay”, but my fellow pilots weren’t paying attention to anything I was saying.”
“I pulled both emergency shut off handles because I thought I was dreaming and I wanted to wake up,” Emerson added. “It was my first time taking mushrooms and I thought I was having a nervous breakdown.”
Investigators stated, after Emerson left the cockpit, he walked to the back of the plane and told a flight attendant “You need to cuff me right now or it’s going to be bad.”
Another flight attendant heard Emerson say, “I messed everything up” and also that he “tried to kill everybody,” according to the complaint, which adds he allegedly admitted that he had put 84 lives at risk.
Flight attendants used wrist restraints to detain him and sat him in the rear of the plane, where he tried to open the emergency exit before a flight attendant stopped him.
When investigators arrived on scene after the plane safely landed in Portland, Oregon, Emerson told them, “I’m admitting to what I did. I’m not fighting any charges you want to bring against me, guys.”
Police said Emerson has been a licensed pilot since 2001.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon Released a statement claiming, in addition to 83 felony counts of attempted murder, 83 misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and one felony count of endangering an aircraft filed in Multnomah County court, Emerson now faces a federal charge of endangering a flight crew.
According to the Multnomah County affidavit, 11 passengers on board the flight were under the age of 14.
Emerson remains in custody in Multnomah County and will face federal charges at a later date.
