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U.S.|Off-Duty Pilot Who Tried to Shut Off Engines Expresses Regret in Court
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/us/alaska-airlines-pilot-plea-agreement-mushrooms.html
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The former Alaska Airlines pilot had consumed psychedelic mushrooms two days before the flight. Judges approved plea agreements in his case on Friday.
Sept. 5, 2025Updated 7:23 p.m. ET
A former Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut down the engines of a plane while it was in flight, two days after he took psychedelic mushrooms, expressed regret to passengers and thanked the crew members who had stopped him as he pleaded guilty or no contest on Friday to state and federal charges.
The former pilot, Joseph D. Emerson, has said he was having a “nervous breakdown” and had been struggling with depression when he reached up and yanked two fire-suppression handles — intended to cut the fuel supply and stop both engines — on a full flight from Everett, Wash., to San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2023.
Appearing in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Ore., on Friday, Mr. Emerson, who was off duty and sitting in an extra seat in the cockpit that day, expressed regret for the harm he had caused. He said he had been in recovery for alcohol use and, even though he had no intention of harming anyone, he still made the decision to consume psilocybin mushrooms.
“What happened was wrong and should not have happened and I bear the responsibility for that,” he said, adding that he was committed to “trying to progress and become better.”
The plea agreements, which judges approved on Friday, spared Mr. Emerson prison time on state charges but could still result in a federal prison sentence.
In federal court in Portland, Mr. Emerson, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with a flight crew, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. His lawyers said that federal prosecutors planned to recommend a year in prison, but that the defense would ask for probation instead when Mr. Emerson is sentenced on Nov. 17.
