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Authorities revealed on Tuesday that the ‘crazed’ airline pilot who attempted to shut down the engines on an Alaskan Airlines jet admitted to taking magic mushrooms before to the flight.

Joseph Emerson, 44, an off-duty commercial airline pilot, attempted to disconnect the gasoline to the engines on a flight between Washington, and San Francisco on Sunday, before being restrained by the crew.

Emerson struggled to open the emergency doors on the Horizon Air-operated Alaskan flight, even while restrained, as the pilots desperately tried to get the aeroplane to the ground. It’s now revealed that the bonkers pilot said he had a “nervous breakdown” after not sleeping for 40 hours and taking psychedelic mushrooms for the first time.

“I didn’t feel okay. It seemed like the pilots weren’t paying attention to what was going on. They didn’t… it didn’t seem right,” Emerson told police, according to an affidavit.

Emerson allegedly told a flight attendant: “You need to cuff me right now or it’s going to be bad.”

“I messed everything up.”

Although his initial statement did not specifically mention the shrooms, Emerson acknowledged that he “pulled both emergency shut-off handles because I thought I was dreaming and I just wanna wake up.”

The married father of two was immediately taken into custody after the aeroplane, carrying 83 people, landed safely in Portland, Oregon. The pilot was booked and in an affidavit admitted trying to shut off the engines and opening the hatch.

“I’m admitting to what I did, I’m not fighting any charges you want to bring against me, guys.”

Tuesday afternoon, Emerson made an appearance in Oregon state court where he entered a not-guilty plea to 83 counts of attempted murder and one count of endangering an aircraft, all of which are felonies in the US.

In addition to the felony charges, he was charged with 83 misdemeanour charges of reckless endangerment, to which he also pled not guilty.

The weird story has come as a surprise to his neighbours and friends, who called the behaviour ‘uncharacteristic of the suburban dad’.

“They are a great family and I just feel bad for them,” one neighbour said. “I just can’t imagine him doing what he was doing. The whole neighbourhood is in total shock because he’s loved by everybody.”

The two pilots of the aeroplane told federal investigators that Emerson grabbed for the red handles that activate the emergency fire suppression system – which would have cut off the fuel flow to the jet engines – while they were having a “casual conversation” with him.

They forced him from the cockpit after a 30-second altercation, locked the door, and alerted the flight attendants that he was “losing it.” Later, the pilots admitted to investigators that they had “zero indication” that Emerson would lose control of the aircraft.

He had to be restrained again as he pushed for the emergency exits after being strapped into wrist restraints toward the back of the aircraft. According to a shooketh passenger “The flight attendant got back on the speaker and said, plain and simple, ‘He had a mental breakdown, we needed to get him off the plane immediately.’”

All the passengers and crew landed safely, the only casualty being Emmerson’s career, reputation, pilot’s license and possibly freedom.

Despite how you feel about shrooms and flying, you have to feel a little pity for the guy.

[source:nypost]