Pilot accused of making an attempt to close down engines mid-flight after consuming magic mushrooms requested, ‘Am I useless?’ Is that this hell?

The off-duty Alaska Airways pilot accused of making an attempt to stall the engines of an airborne airplane final month after consuming magic mushrooms mentioned he was dreaming and questioned if he was in hell, he mentioned in an interview revealed Saturday.

Joseph Emerson, 44 years previous He told the New York Times In a jail interview in Portland, Oregon, he mentioned that when he took the drug round a campfire – which he had by no means carried out earlier than – on October 20, two days earlier than the incident, he targeted on the occasions of his previous.

“I thought of loads of painful issues at the moment the place I used to be like, ‘Am I useless?’ Is that this hell?” he advised the Instances. “I am dwelling that trauma.”

On October 22, Emerson, who was off-duty, was sitting in a bounce seat within the cockpit of an Alaska Airways flight when he allegedly tried to close down the airplane’s engines by activating the hearth suppression system.

Emerson advised a Portland, Oregon, police officer that he thought he was dreaming and needed to get up, in accordance with courtroom paperwork, which Emerson additionally advised the Instances.

“I assumed it might shut off each engines, the airplane would begin heading towards impression, and I’d get up,” Emerson advised the newspaper.

Emerson additionally mentioned he was depressed and believed he was having a psychological breakdown, authorities mentioned.

The airplane, Flight 2059, operated by Alaska Airways subsidiary Horizon Air, was touring from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco and was diverted to Portland.

Jail information present Emerson was being held with out bail on the Multnomah County Detention Middle in Portland.

He was charged with 83 counts of tried homicide and different costs in state courtroom. He pleaded not responsible. He was additionally charged federally with interfering with the flight crew.

Emerson’s lawyer, Noah Horst, mentioned he “would by no means deliberately harm one other particular person” and that “Joe was not underneath the affect of any intoxicants when he took that flight.”

Nobody was injured within the accident.