The airline pilot who allegedly tried to crash an Alaska Airlines flight after admitting to taking magic mushrooms was once the security officer for his flying club in California, The Post has learned.
Joseph Emerson, 44, was a “consummate professional” when he was a member of the NRI Flying Club in Concord, California, president Adam Silverthorne told The Post.
“He was a licensed instructor at the NRI Flying Club and served for one or two years as the club’s safety officer, where he promoted a culture of safety and ongoing training,” he said.
“It’s impossible for me to imagine him intentionally trying to harm anyone, that’s just not who he is.”
Emerson served as the club’s security officer for about two years, before leaving the position in 2019. He then resigned from the club in 2021 to have more space to work and spend time with his family, Silverthorne said.
While off-duty and riding in the jump seat on a flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on Sunday, Emerson allegedly attempted to cut fuel to the plane’s engines before being restrained and removed from the cabin.
Even while he was handcuffed in the back of the plane, a flight attendant had to restrain him after trying to open an emergency door, according to federal charging documents.
Joe Emerson, 41, appeared in court in Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges. POOL Emerson was previously a security officer at his flying club in California for approximately two years. Joseph Emerson/Facebook
Once the plane made a safe emergency landing, Emerson was charged with 83 counts of attempted murder, one for each passenger and crew member aboard the plane.
When interviewed by authorities, he admitted that he had consumed mushrooms before the flight and had been depressed for about six months.
“I’m admitting what I did,” he told police, according to an affidavit obtained by The Post. “I’m not going to fight any charges you guys want to bring against me.”
Pilots at commercial airlines like Emerson are required to undergo drug tests every six months, and individual airlines frequently subject their pilots to random testing, said Kevin Trexler, owner of the Trexair Aviation Academy, which is based there. airport than the NRI Flying Club. .
“He wasn’t piloting the plane, but jump seat laws say you can’t do drugs in case there’s an emergency,” Trexler said.
“They get them from point A to point B, so the reward is that you have to be sober. In case something happens to one of the pilots, you are expected to intervene.”
Joseph Emerson allegedly admitted to Portland police that he had consumed magic mushrooms at some point before flying. POOL Emerson allegedly told police: “I’m admitting what I did.”
The only time Trexler could recall that a “jumper seat” had attempted to bring down a plane before was in 1985, when FedEx employee Auburn Calloway attempted to hijack and crash a cargo plane before the pilots restrained him.
In that incident, Calloway’s attempt was part of a premeditated plan to commit suicide so his family could cash in on a multimillion-dollar life insurance policy.
Emerson had just renewed his air transport pilot license with the Federal Aviation Authority on July 10.
The agency closely monitors any prescription medications commercial pilots take, Trexler said, adding that pilots who take medication cannot fly unless their doctors have signed on with the FAA.
“It probably just broke. I wasn’t there, but I don’t think anyone would do something like that after going through years and years of training. For someone to go through all that training, get a job, work in the industry for so long and then want to destroy it, something else has to be wrong,” Trexler said.
It is unclear if anything specific led to Emerson’s depression. Neighbors on his street in Pleasant Hill, California, told The Post that he, his wife and his two children seemed perfectly happy and that they had never heard or seen any fights between them.
The Alaska Airlines flight was forced to land in Portland, Oregon, after taking off from Everett, Washington.Getty Images
The flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was arrested.
On Tuesday he appeared in federal and state court in Portland, where he was formally charged. Emerson pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn