A former pilot pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew after he tried to switch off a plane’s engines while high on magic mushrooms, according to international media.
California resident Joseph Emerson, a former pilot for Alaska Airlines, tried to cut off the engines of Horizon Air flight 2059 from Everett to San Francisco in 2023.
Two pilots prevented him from switching off the engines, endangering the lives of the 84 people aboard the flight, and diverted the plane to Portland.
Emerson was arrested promptly after the emergency landing and told police that he had taken psilocybin while mourning the death of his friend.
The former pilot claimed that he had taken the hallucinogenic drug two days before the flight and had not slept for 40 hours.
In addition to the charge of interfering with a flight crew, Emerson now faces 83 counts of endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft in Oregon.
Pilot given 50 days in jail, heavy fine
So far, Emerson has been sentenced to 50 days in jail, five years on probation, 664 hours of community service and $60,569 in restitution.
Emerson was cited as telling the court that while he had not intended to harm anyone, "I still made the decision to take psilocybin, and that led to my inability to determine that I was operating in reality for an extended period of time."
"That doesn't make this right," he said. "What happened was wrong and should not have happened, and I bear the responsibility for that."
Multnomah County deputy district attorney Eric Pickard said in a written statement on Friday that what "Joseph Emerson did was reckless, selfish, and criminal."
"We should remember how close he came to ruining the lives of not just the 84 people aboard Flight 2059, but all of their family members and friends as well," he added.