The runaway pilot who tried to shoot down an Alaskan Airlines flight out of the air told police he had taken magic mushrooms before the flight, it emerged Tuesday.
Joseph Emerson, 44, an off-duty commercial airline pilot, derailed while sitting in the jump seat in the cockpit of a flight between Everett, Washington, and San Francisco on Sunday, trying to shut off fuel to the engines before of having to do it. be held by crew members.
Even while restrained, Emerson attempted to open the emergency doors on the Alaska flight, which was being operated by Horizon Air, as pilots frantically guided the craft toward the ground.
When police later interviewed him, he said he had had a “nervous breakdown” after not sleeping for 40 hours and taking psychedelic mushrooms for the first time.
“I didn’t feel good. It seemed like the pilots weren’t paying attention to what was happening. “It…didn’t seem right,” Emerson told police, according to an affidavit obtained by The Post.
“You have to handcuff me right now or everything will go wrong,” he told a flight attendant after he was kicked out of the cabin, according to the affidavit.
“I ruined everything,” Emerson told the crew member, adding that he “tried to kill everyone.”
Although the affidavit does not indicate whether Emerson was under the influence of the mushrooms while on the plane, he later added, “I pulled on both emergency lock handles because I thought I was dreaming and just wanted to wake up.”
Joseph Emerson, 44, a commercial airline pilot, was charged with attempted murder and reckless endangerment. Joseph Emerson/Facebook Joseph Emerson derailed while sitting in the jump seat in the cabin of a flight between Everett, Washington and San Francisco on Sunday. AP A gardener working outside Emerson’s home in Pleasant Hill, California. David G. McIntyre
After the plane, carrying 83 people, made a successful emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, the married father of two was detained and booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center.
“I’m admitting what I did,” Emerson told police in Portland, according to the affidavit. “I’m not going to fight any charges you guys want to bring against me.”
On Tuesday, the feds added their own charge, accusing him of interfering with flight crew members and attendants.
Emerson also appeared in Oregon state court Tuesday afternoon, where he pleaded not guilty to 83 counts of attempted murder and one count of endangering an aircraft, all felonies.
He was also charged with 83 misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment, to which he also pleaded not guilty.
Even while restrained, Emerson attempted to open the emergency doors on the Alaska flight, which was being operated by Horizon Air, as pilots frantically guided the craft toward the ground. POOL Joseph Emerson, 44, had to be restrained aboard an Alaskan Airlines flight Sunday when he twice tried to shoot down the plane. The plane was diverted to Oregon, where the off-duty pilot was charged with 83 criminal counts in the bizarre incident. Courtesy of Aubrey Gavello
Emerson told investigators he became depressed six months earlier.
The pilot’s neighbors in Pleasant Hill, California, where Emerson has lived with his wife and children for about five years, called the incident uncharacteristic of the suburban father.
“When I found out about the incident my initial response was [that] He was having some kind of psychological problem because it’s not normal for him at all,” neighbor Karen Yee told The Post.
“They’re a big family and I feel bad for them,” Yee said. “I just can’t imagine him doing what he was doing. “The whole neighborhood is in total shock because everyone loves him.”
After the plane, carrying 83 people, made a successful emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, the married father of two was detained and booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. POOL Emerson’s neighbors called the incident out of character for him. David G. .McIntyre A decorative sign on the Emerson house.David G. McIntyre
The plane’s two pilots told federal investigators that they were having an “informal conversation” with Emerson when he reached for the red handles that activate the emergency fire suppression system, which would have cut off the fuel supply powering the plane’s engines. plane.
The pilots later told police they had “no indication” that Emerson was going to lose control.
After a 30-second fight, they kicked him out of the cabin, closed the door and notified the flight attendants that he was “losing his mind.”
They put wrist restraints on him near the back of the plane and then had to restrain him again as he lunged toward the emergency doors.
Although all the passengers on the plane were safe, they were shaken by the strange incident.
“The flight attendant came back on the speaker and said, plain and simple, ‘He had a mental breakdown,'” passenger Aubrey Gavello told ABC News this week. “’We needed to get him off the plane immediately.’”
The incident also unfolded in a dramatic talk by air traffic controllers.
Off-duty pilot Joseph Emerson attempted to cut fuel to the engines of an Alaskan Airlines flight Sunday and then lunged for the emergency doors mid-air before he was finally restrained. He faces 83 criminal charges over the incident. AP Federal prosecutors said he twice tried to shoot down an Alaskan Airlines flight from Washington to California on Sunday. KGO-TV
“We’ve got the guy who tried to shut down the engines outside the cockpit and it doesn’t look like it’s causing any problems in the rear right now,” a pilot tells air traffic control, according to audio obtained from LiveATC. .net.
“We would like to see enforcement as soon as we get to the ground and park,” he said.
Emerson was riding in the jump seat in the cockpit as a courtesy normally provided to off-duty pilots on a flight.
Additional information from Marjorie Hernandez
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Source: vtt.edu.vn