The pilot who allegedly tried to crash an Alaska Airlines commuter plane while over Portland told the pilots who overpowered him that he “was not OK.” He later admitted to FBI agents that he took “magic mushrooms” for the first time about two days before he tried to crash the plane with 83 souls on board. This is the same drug that psychedelic aficionados have been falling all over themselves to decriminalize all over the country.
Fans of psilocybin – the active ingredient found in “magic mushrooms” – say that the pilot was not violent or would have tried to kill passengers on the Horizon Air Embraer 175 as it flew from Everett, Washington to San Francisco, California Sunday.
Let’s find out what the 44-year-old grown-up pilot told FBI agents and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Deputies after they sent him a welcome party following the plane’s emergency landing in Portland.
Documents in court show that Joseph David Emerson (44), of Pleasant Hill, Calif. made a voluntary statement to the authorities, without having an attorney present. Maybe the drugs are to blame for this stupid decision.
I felt ill. The pilots seemed to be oblivious to the situation. It didn’t… they didn’t… it seemed wrong… Yeah…I pulled both emergency shutdown handles because I thought I’d been dreaming and just wanted to wake up.
People who know about the Embraer 175 say that pulling the emergency shutdown handles will kill the engines.
Documents in court also stated that he attempted to open an exit for an emergency. KIRO-TV reports:
Court documents state that a flight attendant stopped Emerson immediately and talked with him in order to keep him from trying to grab the handle of the exit door again.
A flight attendant reported to police that Emerson had said “I messed up everything” and “he tried killing everyone.”
Court documents state that Emerson was also seen texting on his cellphone, and the flight attendant heard him saying he had “put 84 lives at risk tonight, including his own.”
Emerson told police that he had suffered a “nervous breakdown” and hadn’t slept for 40 hours.
Which was it? A psychotic break or anger towards Alaska/Horizon, or both? It’s possible we will never know. But the people who do know, not me, tell me magic mushrooms don’t make you want to kill people. This guy’s story is not one I believe. His Twitter page is filled with pro-airline workers rallies in 2022. “I’m wondering if this is a disgruntled airline employee.”
As I mentioned earlier, the timeline of his Twitter/X account is filled with union activities and calls to Congress during this pandemic.
I turned to Reddit to find a ‘shroom group commenting on the story. One person said, “It feels to me like he’s using them as an excuse. I do think he probably has a mental health problem but I’m not convinced one dose of shrooms 48 hours before causes a person to try to crash a plane.” Another said, “48 hours staying awake is more dangerous than a bit of mushrooms.”
Some users of the drug claim that it is used to treat PTSD and eating disorders. We were also told that weed was great and should be legalized. Then we got hallucinogenic experiences (Michael Brown’s in Ferguson), high-speed driving, and people without ambition.
According to Health News Florida, the airline industry requires that pilots “renew their certificates on a regular basis — every year for those under 40 years old and every six months for those over 40,” as per Health News Florida. This is a system of self-reporting. If they confess to having problems, they may be grounded for some time.
The publication says that pilots on duty (Emerson was not) are randomly tested for drugs. “We look for opioids, cocaine, methamphetamines, marijuana, and other drugs, but not psychedelics,” it states.
Colorado legalized psychedelic shrooms. Washington, Michigan, and California have all decriminalized the hallucinogenic use of shrooms. California Gov. Gavin Newsom – a man of stupid ideas – shocked the public when he vetoed legislation to legalize psychedelics. Oregon’s “medical marijuana program” is essentially a psychedelic program.
The neighbor of the pilot arrested in the Bay Area said, “I always see Joe working in his garage.” I went to talk to him. “He seemed to be a normal guy.”
One passenger who would have been killed by a “typical normal person” says that he was “cooperative, and I know you give Alaska crew props for keeping everyone calm but kind of out the loop.” We knew we would have to make an emergency landing, but we did not know the security threat until 5 minutes before landing. The pilot then came on to say we must land in Portland.
Emerson faces 83 counts of attempted murder, among others.
