Summary
- Alaska Airlines pilot cleared of murder charges for attempting to shut down engines on a regional plane.
- The pilot was under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms and affected by sleep deprivation. He thought he was dreaming and just desired to get up.
The Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut down the engines of a regional jet in October has been cleared of attempted murder charges. Nonetheless, he has been charged with the endangerment of the lives of everyone onboard the plane and is currently lodged on the Multnomah County Detention Center.
No attempted murder charge
Joseph Emerson, the 44-year-old Alaska Airlines pilot who attempted to shut down the engines of a regional aircraft wherein he was traveling as a jump seat passenger, won’t face an attempted murder charge for his actions that day.
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
An Oregon grand jury decided that Emerson didn’t have the intention of murdering anyone on the plane but did indict him with lower charges. Emerson has now been charged with 83 misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering one other person.
Under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms
Within the documents submitted to the Port of Portland police, Emerson said that he was affected by depression and that a friend had also recently died. Moreover, he was under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms, which he had taken around 48 hours before the incident. He also added that he had not slept in greater than 40 hours before boarding that flight. Easy Flying has contacted Alaska Airlines for a comment on this development and can update the article as and after we receive it.
Photo: GingChen | Shutterstock
While a cockpit incident like that was, indeed, serious, all of the evidence and the data revealed by the pilot, the jury decided to not go ahead with the attempted murder charge. Emerson’s defense lawyers, Ethan Levi, Noah Horst, and Norah Van Dusen, commented in an announcement,
Indeed, that’s what Emerson told the police, in line with court documents. He said,
“I pulled each emergency shut-off handles because I assumed I used to be dreaming and I just wanna get up. I used to be attempting to get up. I didn’t feel like this was real.”
What happened on that flight?
The incident gained national coverage when, on October 22, Emerson, an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot, attempted to shut down the plane’s engines on Alaska’s regional flight AS2059. Operated by the group’s subsidiary, Horizon Air, it involved an Embraer 175 aircraft.
Alaska Airlines Pilot Incident Raises Mental Health Concerns
Aviation regulations require pilots to reveal mental issues and abnormal conditions.
The plane was traveling between Seattle Paine Field International Airport (PAE) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and Emerson was traveling as a jump-seat passenger on the flight deck. As he tried to stop the engines from running, the flight crew someway managed to manage the situation, with considered one of the pilots telling the ATC,
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