Off-Duty Pilot Trips on Shrooms and Attempts to Shut Off Plane: The Wild Story You Won’t Believe

Well, well, well, we have quite the story here. This off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot really took things to a whole new level. Apparently, he thought it would be a great idea to try and shut off a sister airline’s plane while he was on it. Talk about a wild ride!

So why did he do it, you ask? Well, according to him, it was all because of a “nervous breakdown” and a serious lack of sleep. Oh, and let’s not forget, he also admits to taking shrooms. Yep, you read that right. This pilot was tripping while trying to take down a plane. Unbelievable!

The pilot, Joseph D. Emerson, spilled the beans to law enforcement, revealing that he was feeling dehydrated, tired, and hadn’t slept in a whopping 40 hours. I don’t know about you, but I can barely function after just one sleepless night, let alone 40! No wonder he was out of his mind.

But it gets even crazier. The criminal complaint states that Emerson told investigators, “I didn’t feel okay. It seemed like the pilots weren’t paying attention to what was going on. They didn’t… it didn’t seem right.” Yeah, because trying to shut off the engines in mid-flight definitely seems like the right thing to do. Not!

And let’s not forget about Emerson’s little revelation regarding his use of psychedelic mushrooms. He admitted that he had taken magic mushrooms for the first time, although it’s unclear when and how many he ingested. But given his behavior, there’s a pretty strong hint that he might have been under the influence during the flight. I guess he was really going for that “out of this world” experience.

Now, this pilot is facing some serious charges. He has been booked on 83 counts of attempted murder. That’s right, 83! Trying to take down a plane with all those innocent passengers onboard is no joke. If convicted, he could be looking at up to 20 years behind bars. Talk about a bad trip turning into a nightmare.

It’s a good thing the captain and first officer were able to subdue Emerson in the cockpit before things got even more out of hand. Can you imagine the chaos if they hadn’t acted swiftly? Let’s just say it wouldn’t have been a pretty sight.

And just when you think it can’t get any crazier, we hear that Emerson actually said, “I’m not okay” right before he reached for the emergency shut-off handles. Well, I think we can all agree on that one, buddy.

According to flight attendants, after Emerson was finally subdued, he had quite the meltdown. He told them, “You need to cuff me right now or it’s going to be bad.” And apparently, he also admitted, “I messed everything up.” No kidding! I think “messing everything up” is an understatement here, don’t you?

All in all, this is definitely one for the books. A pilot going on a wild ride fueled by a nervous breakdown, sleep deprivation, and psychedelic mushrooms. If that doesn’t make you question the sanity of some people, I don’t know what will.