Alaska Airlines Pilot Who Tried To Stop Engines Says He Was 'Self-Medicating' With Magic Mushrooms Due To Antidepressant Fears

 

More information concerning the incident involving the Alaska Airlines off-duty pilot who tried to turn off the engines of an Embraer E175 in midair has surfaced. Joseph Emerson asserts that he believed that by crashing the plane, he would awaken from his hallucinatory state.

Pilot off duty believed he was in a bad dream

Emerson told the New York Times that he had boarded Alaska Airlines flight AS2059 from Seattle Paine Field (PAE) to San Francisco (SFO) without any problems, but that he would become upset as the plane ascended. Emerson was speaking from the Multnomah County Detention Centre in Oregon.

Emerson claims that around two days prior, he had used magic mushrooms with friends as a way to remember his closest friend who passed away earlier in 2018. Emerson says he tried to wake up from a hallucinogenic condition by trying to trigger the plane's fire suppression system, which would have shut down its engines and put everyone on board at risk. Emerson appears to still be dealing with the aftereffects of the psychedelic.

Emerson said,

"I thought it would stop both engines, the plane would start to head towards a crash, and I would wake up."

The pilot claimed that recalling his close friend's passing had sent him into a deep state of grief and exacerbated long-standing, unresolved mental health problems.

Emerson has been placed under remand in detention and is charged with 83 counts of murder, one for each passenger and member of the crew on the Horizon Air flight.

Depending on the dosage, magic mushroom effects often last three to six hours. However, the New York Times adds that "researchers have cautioned that psychedelics may have prolonged effects for those vulnerable to a psychotic disorder." In Emerson's case, he alleges that during the hours before the trip, he had prolonged disorientation, bewilderment, and worry.

Pilots' mental well-being

Given the significant safety dangers involved, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has long maintained a tough position on grounding pilots who suffer from depression or other mental health conditions. 

Although they are exceedingly rare, pilots have occasionally committed suicide by purposefully crashing their aircraft as a result of mental health issues.

One such pilot, Andreas Lubitz, later crashed a Germanwings Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing 150 people, while hiding his depression diagnosis and treatment from authorities. Other possible mishaps include China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 last year and Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in 2014, both of which are currently under investigation.

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