By Marielis Acevedo
25 Oct 2023, 08:48 AM EDT
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking to determine whether the Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut down the engines of a plane in mid-flight last Sunday was under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms.
Joseph David Emerson, 44, was off-duty and sitting in a seat in the cockpit, an area permitted for pilots traveling between airports, when the incident was reported.
The plane had taken off from Washington heading to San Francisco, California.
Emerson appeared in court in Oregon on Tuesday where he pleaded not guilty.
The man was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder.
He also faces charges of interfering with the work of an air crew. For these accusations alone he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
A video recorded by a passenger shows the pilot being escorted by officers off the plane, handcuffed.
In statements to agents, Emerson alleged that he had not slept for 40 hours and that he believed he was suffering a “nervous breakdown.”
The pilot said that he did not take medication before boarding the flight, but that he had ingested mushrooms, according to documents in the federal complaint to which national media refer.
“I didn’t feel good,” Emerson declared. “It seemed like the pilots weren’t paying attention to what was happening,” he added.
The authorities’ report indicates that Emerson was having an “informal conversation” with the other pilots when he suddenly tried to grab two red levers used to turn off the plane.
The man threw his headphones across the cabin and alerted his colleagues that he was unwell.
“I pulled the two emergency shutdown levers because I thought I was dreaming and I just wanted to wake up,” he said.
One of the pilots grabbed Emerson by the wrists, while the other declared an in-flight emergency. The parties struggled for several seconds until the pilot was subdued.
The pilot was forced to leave the cockpit while the cockpit door was secured.
The staff proceeded to move Emerson to the rear of the plane and place flexible handcuffs on him.
“You have to handcuff me right now or this is going to get worse,” the troublemaker reportedly indicated.