An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot indicted for trying to shut off a passenger jet’s engines mid-flight in 2023 recalled the scary moment he slipped out of reality after eating “magic mushrooms.”
Former airline captain Joseph Emerson said he takes full responsibility for the night in October 2023 that changed his life.
“I had no intention of crashing an actual airplane. I wanted to wake up. I was convinced I wasn’t going home to my wife and kids,” he said in an interview that aired on “CBS Mornings” on Thursday.
At the time, Emerson said he had been grieving the death of his best friend and first turned to alcohol before experimenting with the psychedelic drug. Two days after trying so-called ‘magic mushrooms’ for the first time, he boarded Alaska Air Flight 2059 as a passenger from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. It was a full flight, with 83 other passengers and crew on board, so he was given the cockpit jump seat behind the pilot and first officer.
“Most consequential three seconds of my life”
Suddenly, he said he felt a sense of “all-out panic and fear” on the plane as the drugs altered his perception of reality.
“You’re not going home. You need to wake up. That’s when I acted. I pulled the handles that were in front of my face,” Emerson recalled thinking as he pulled the handles that cut off fuel to the engines in the event of a fire.
While in the apparent dissociative state, Emerson said he didn’t realize the serious consequences of his actions.
“I mean, in the dream, in that dissociative state, I thought they were going to wake me up. It didn’t wake me up, right? I was in reality. I know that now. You know, it’s the most consequential three seconds of my life,” Emerson said.
The flight was diverted and landed safely in Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was arrested. He’s set to be arraigned next month on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew, and faces a host of state charges including 83 misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and one felony count of first-degree endangering aircraft.
The case reignited the conversation about barriers facing pilots when it comes to their mental health.
Pilots’ mental health
Disclosing mental health issues can lead to a pilot being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration, putting their ability to work at risk for an extended period of time, possibly lasting years. A 2022 study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine estimated 56% of pilots avoid seeking medical care due to fear of losing their certification to fly.
“I came to an understanding, or a misunderstanding, that I needed to be perfect on paper. I needed to show up and appear perfect, no matter what else was going on for me,” Emerson said.
The National Transportation Safety Board has since held a first of its kind pilot mental health forum to review existing pilot mental health rules. The FAA also launched a review of policies – both calling for changes to address barriers to care.
“We need to have a system that allows people to be more forthcoming and to have treatment for issues that shouldn’t keep you out of the cockpit,” then-FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said months after the incident, in December 2023.
The FAA review committee made 24 recommendations.
Illinois Rep. Sean Casten and Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber are leading an effort in Congress to enact reforms within two years, introducing the bipartisan Mental Health in Aviation Act to help pilots and air traffic controllers get access to mental health care and hire additional medical examiners.
“The goal really simply is to make our skies safer and make our pilots safer. That’s it,” Casten told “CBS Mornings.”
The bill would also require the FAA to annually review and update the process related to mental health-related special issuance of medical certificates to pilots and air traffic controllers, set aside 13.74 million dollars a year for the next three years to hire additional certified Aviation Medical Examiners, and authorize a three year $4.5 million dollar public information campaign aimed at destigmatizing mental health care among pilots and air traffic controllers.
“Our pilots and air traffic controllers are not going to lose their job when they ask for help. We in this country must recognize that that’s strength. And they’re not to be punished. We’re going to help them, process them, and get them back into cockpits,” Stauber added.
The bill maintains the FAA’s rigorous process for determining a pilot is safe to resume flying but aims to cut red tape and increase transparency. It has unanimously passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last month and has the backing of the largest pilot unions. The bill has advanced to the House of Representatives for consideration. The FAA declined to comment on the bill.
Emerson says he’s been sober since the incident. He and his wife have started a nonprofit, Clear Skies Ahead, aimed at improving pilot health and wellness.
“I hope that there are lessons that we can learn from my experience. And that’s kind of why I’m talking you today,” Emerson said.
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