After taking psilocybin mushrooms and going 40 hours without sleep, an off-duty pilot attempted to shut off a plane's engines from the jump seat during a Horizon Air flight in October 2023. The now-former Alaska Airlines pilot was sentenced on Monday to time served, 600 hours in community service and almost $60,000 in damages to the carrier. Considering that he was initially charged with 83 counts of attempted murder and 83 counts of reckless endangerment, the outcome could have been far worse for both the pilot and the flight itself.
Two days before the flight, Joseph Emerson tried mushrooms for the first time to self-medicate depression symptoms. He was on a weekend trip in Washington to celebrate the life of his best friend, a pilot who died several years earlier. According to ABC News, his attorneys stated he had never taken any hallucinogen before and was experiencing a psychotic break. Emerson claims he didn't seek professional help to deal with his mental health issues because he feared being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA's stringent health policy will suspend pilots for simply seeking psychiatric help.
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Emerson concealed his fragile state when he boarded the flight from Everett, Washington to San Francisco, California. He said in a court filing:
"Although I was sitting in the jump seat and interacting with the flight crew, I believed I was either dreaming and felt an overwhelming need to wake up. In an effort to wake up from my 'dream' I knowingly pulled the dual fire extinguisher handles for the aircraft engines while the aircraft was flying."
Engaging the fire suppression system would have cut off fuel to the engine, the flight's pilots pulled Emerson away from the instruments. The flight attendants put him in wrist restraints and seated him at the back of the plane. However, the ordeal wasn't over yet. Emerson tried to pull the handle of an emergency exit and was stopped by an attendant. The flight ended up diverting to Portland, Oregon.
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Federal prosecutors eventually charged Emerson with one count of interfering with flight crew members and attendants. The now-former pilot pleaded guilty to the charge in September. He faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Prosecutors sought a one-year sentence, but the judge decided otherwise. Along with his attorneys, a pilot from the flight told the judge that he believed Emerson didn't deserve to go to prison.
The pilot also argued that Emerson's prison sentence would further discourage pilots from seeking mental health help. The FAA had already revoked Emerson's pilot and medical certificates over the incident. With his flying career over, he's now working to become a substance abuse counselor. This isn't a rare predicament. The FAA launched an investigation into around 4,800 veterans-turned-pilots in 2023 for claiming VA benefits for disabilities that would typically make them ineligible to fly. While pilot standards need to be high to ensure safety, but fears of harsh repercussions push pilots into dangerous situations to maintain their careers.
