Pilot admits trying to turn off plane during flight 'while high on mushrooms'

A former Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut down a passenger plane mid-flight "while high on magic mushrooms" has reached a plea deal with prosecutors.

Joseph Emerson, 46, was off duty in the jump seat of a Horizon Air flight to San Francisco in 2023 when he attempted to cut the plane's engine fuel supply. More than 80 people were on board when the crew subdued him and diverted the aircraft to Portland, Oregon, where it landed safely.

"There are two red handles in front of my face," Emerson later said. "And thinking that I was going to wake up, thinking this is my way to get out of this non-real reality, I reached up and I grabbed them, and I pulled the levers."

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Emerson told police he had taken psychedelic mushrooms about 48 hours before the flight, had not slept for more than 40 hours, and was struggling with depression following the death of a close friend, also a pilot. He said he became convinced he was trapped in a hallucination during Flight 2059 from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco.

"That's kind of where I flung off my headset, and I was fully convinced this isn’t real and I’m not going home," Emerson said. "And then, as the pilots didn't react to my completely abnormal behaviour in a way that I thought would be consistent with reality, that is when I was like, this isn’t real. I need to wake up."

He said he was stopped by the crew: "It was really the pilot's physical touch on my hand. Both pilots grabbed my hands where I kind of stopped and I had that moment, which I'll just say I view this moment as a gift."

Emerson initially faced 83 counts of attempted murder - one for each person on board - which were later downgraded. He was charged federally with interfering with a flight crew and at the state level with 83 counts of endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft. He previously pleaded not guilty but is expected to plead guilty to the federal charge and no contest to the state charges Friday.

His lawyer, Noah Horst, said Emerson wanted to take responsibility for his actions and avoid further time behind bars. Emerson had been released in December 2023 pending trial, under conditions including mental health treatment, abstaining from drugs and alcohol, and staying away from aircraft.

Since the incident, he has founded a nonprofit focused on pilot mental health. He and his wife, Sarah, appeared on Good Morning America, where he revealed he was an alcoholic at the time of the flight. "I'm better for it which is kind of a weird thing to say but I am really better for all of us," he said.

Emerson said the incident gave him more time with his children and helped repair his marriage.