An off-duty pilot who is facing multiple charges after being accused of trying to crash a plane with 84 people onboard has spoken out.
On October 22, 2023, Joseph David Emerson was flying as a passenger on Alaska Airlines Flight 2059. The flight was operated by Horizon Air and was traveling from Paine Field in Everett, Washington, to San Francisco International Airport.
When the plane took off, Emerson was sat in the cockpit jump seat with the aircraft's pilots.
Four crew members and 79 passengers were also onboard the plane.
However, shortly into the flight, Emerson started to experience a severe psychotic episode where he says he became convinced that his surroundings weren't real and that he was never going to see his family again.
Speaking to ABC News, Emerson recalled: "There was a feeling of being trapped, like, 'Am I trapped in this airplane and now I'll never go home?'"
Two days prior to the flight, Emerson admits that he took magic mushrooms for the first time after struggling with the loss of his best friend, who died several years prior.
As his mental state and intrusive thoughts continued to worsen on the flight, Emerson messaged a friend, who instructed him to try and do some breathing exercises to calm down.
However, rather than help him, the message only exacerbated Emerson and caused him to suddenly throw his headset across the cockpit.
"I was fully convinced this isn't real and I'm not going home," Emerson told ABC. "And then, as the pilots didn't react to my completely abnormal behavior in a way that I thought would be consistent with reality, that is when I was like, this isn't real. I need to wake up."
Spotting the fire extinguisher handles above his head, he attempted to pull them - which would have shut down the plane's engines.
Emerson says he knew what the handles did "on a real plane" and therefore believed that pulling them would wake him up from his "dream-like" state.
When the crew attempted to subdue Emerson and remove his hands from the handles, that's when he suddenly realized that what was happening was very real.
"It was really the pilots' physical touch on my hand," Emerson recalled. "Both pilots grabbed my hands where I kind of stopped and I had that moment, which I'll just say I view this moment as a gift."
As he watched the pilots talk about him, he asked if they wanted him out of the cockpit.
Emerson was then led to the back of the plane by a confused flight attendant, who watched him drink directly out of a coffee pot and sit in another jump seat meant for the crew.
However, his episode was far from over and he was once again swamped by a feeling that he needed to wake up. So he grabbed the cabin door, recalling that he wanted to experience a "freefall feeling" in an effort to wake himself up.
"I put my hand on the lever, I didn't operate the lever," he said. Fortunately, the flight attendant grabbed Emerson's hand and stopped him - an action that once again snapped him back to reality.
"She put … her hand on mine again and with that human touch, I released," he told ABC. "I think around that period is when I said, 'I don't understand what's real, I don't I don't understand what's real.'"
After messaging his wife that he had made a "big mistake", Emerson asked the flight attendant to handcuff him, and she did.
The flight was diverted to Portland, and Emerson was arrested shortly after landing.
He was initially charged with 83 counts of attempted murder – one count for every other passenger and crew member on the aircraft. These charges were later dropped, but he is still facing a number of federal and state charges, including 83 counts of reckless endangerment.
Emerson was released on bail in December after pleading not guilty. He is not allowed within 30 feet of an aircraft.
During his 45 days in jail, Emerson says he was diagnosed with hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD). This is when an individual uses psychedelic mushrooms for the first time but continues to suffer from visual hallucinations or perception issues.
It can last for several days.
Emerson's defense has argued that there was no criminal intent in his actions, stating in a statement to ABC: "Simply put: Captain Emerson thought he was in a dream; his actions were taken in a single-minded effort to wake up from that dream and return home to his family."
Emerson's story is also the subject of the August 2024 documentary Lie to Fly.
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