Out of duty Alaska Airlines pilot has been charged To try to turn off the engines of a passenger jet in the middle of the flight in 2023, he recalled the terrible moment at which he escaped from reality after eating “magic mushrooms”.
Former airline captain Joseph Emerson said he took full responsibility for the night in October 2023, which changed his life.
“I had no intention of collapsing a real plane. I wanted to wake up. I was convinced that I was not returning to my wife and my children,” he said in an interview that was aired at CBS Mornings on Thursday.
At that time, Emerson said he had grieved for the death of his best friend and first turned to alcohol before experimenting with the psychedelic medicine. Two days after he tried the so -called “magic mushrooms” for the first time, he climbed the Alaska Air Flight 2059 as a passenger from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. It was a complete flight, with 83 other passengers and a crew on board, so he was given a place to jump the pilot behind the pilot and the first officer.
“The most upcoming three seconds of my life”
Suddenly, he said he had a sense of “comprehensive panic and fear” on the plane as drugs change his perception of reality.
“You don’t go home. You have to wake up. Then I acted. I pulled the handles in front of my face,” Emerson recalls, thinking that he pulled the handles that cut the fuel of the engines in the event of a fire.
While in the apparent dissociative state, Emerson said he did not realize the serious consequences of his actions.
“I want to say that in the dream, in this dissociative state, I thought they would wake me up. It didn’t wake me up, right? I really was really. I know this now. You know, this is the most next three seconds of my life,” said Emerson.
The flight was diverted and landed safely in Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was arrested. He will be appointed next month by federal accusation of intervention in a flight crew and faces numerous state charges, including 83 crimes of reckless threatening another person and one criminal of a first -degree aircraft.
The case assigned the conversation about the barriers that the pilots face when it comes to their mental health.
Mental health of pilots
Discovering mental health problems can lead to the fact that the pilot will be justified by the federal aviation administration, putting their ability to work at risk for a long period of time, probably lasting years. A 2022 study published in the magazine of professional and environmental medicine estimates that 56% of pilots avoid seeking medical help for fear of losing their certification for flying.
“I came to an understanding or misunderstanding that I had to be perfect on paper. I had to show up and look perfect, no matter what was happening to me,” Emerson said.
The National Transport Safety Council has ever been a first of its kind Pilot Mental Health Forum to review existing pilot rules for mental health. The FAA also launches a policy review – both call for changes in the addressing of barriers to care.
“We need to have a system that allows people to be more obese and to be treated with problems that should not keep you from the cockpit,” said then FAA administrator Michael Whitaker months after the December 2023 incident.
The FAA Review Committee made 24 recommendations.
Illinois reporter Sean Casten and Minnesota reporter Pete Staber has made efforts in the congress to introduce reforms within two years, introducing bilateral mental health in aviation law to help pilots and air traffic controllers gain access to mental health and hire additional medical examination.
“The goal is really just to make our sky more fucked and make our pilots more festive. That’s all,” Cast Mornings told CBS.
The bill will also require the FAA to review and update the process related to special issuance of medical certificates related to mental health, allocating $ 13.74 million a year for the next three years to hire additional certified aviation medical experts and allow a three -year $ 4,5 million dollars.
“Our pilots and air traffic controllers will not lose their jobs when they ask for help. We in this country have to admit that this is a power. And they should not be punished. We will help them, process them and return them to the pilots,” Stauber added.
The bill maintains a strict FAA process to determine a pilot is safe to resume flying, but aims to reduce bureaucracy and increase transparency. He unanimously passed the Committee on Transport and Infrastructure of the House last month and has the support of the largest pilot unions. The bill is advanced in the House of Resenditions for Consideration. FAA declined to comment on the bill.
Emerson says he is sober by the incident. He and his wife began a non -profit purpose, a clear sky aimed at improving pilot health and well -being.
“I hope there are lessons that we can learn from my experience. And this is something I tell you today,” Emerson said.
The Son of man who has been detained by ice responded after release
Mike Johnson breaks away from Trump, calling on DOJ to release Epstein Files
7.3 magnitude earthquake hits southern Alaska