Former Pilot Pleads Guilty After Telling Crew He’d Taken Mushrooms and Trying to Cut Engines Midflight

A former commercial pilot has pleaded guilty in federal court after attempting to disable a passenger jet's engines while riding off duty in the cockpit and telling crew members he had taken psychedelic mushrooms and was struggling with depression.

Joseph David Emerson admitted the federal charge on Friday, court documents and news reports said, following an incident on Oct. 22, 2023, aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 2059. The flight, carrying 80 passengers from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco, was diverted to Portland, Oregon, after Emerson told the flight crew "I am not okay" and reached toward cockpit controls, according to the criminal complaint.

One pilot said he had to wrestle with Emerson until he stopped resisting. The entire episode lasted about 90 seconds, prosecutors said. After being subdued and escorted from the cockpit, Emerson told flight attendants, "You need to cuff me right now or it's going to be bad," and was observed later reaching for an emergency exit handle during descent, the documents say. A flight attendant told investigators Emerson said, "I messed everything up" and that he "tried to kill everybody."

In state court in Oregon, Emerson previously pleaded no-contest to reckless endangerment and first-degree endangering an aircraft. He was sentenced there to 50 days in jail, a term he has already served, five years' probation, 664 hours of community service — calculated as eight hours for each person prosecutors said he endangered — and $60,659 in restitution, according to court records and media reports.

Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Eric Pickard criticized Emerson's conduct in remarks filed with the court, saying, "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."

Under the federal plea deal, prosecutors may recommend a one-year prison sentence. Emerson's defense attorneys are expected to argue against additional jail time in the federal case. Federal sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 17.

Emerson told the court he could not perceive reality after taking mushrooms, adding, "that doesn't make this right." He also told the court the episode prompted personal changes. "This difficult journey has made me a better father, a better husband, a better member of my community," Emerson said. "Today I get to be the dad I was incapable of when I had to use alcohol to deal with life as life is."

As part of his state sentence, Emerson may serve half of his community service hours at Clear Skies Ahead, a nonprofit focused on pilot health that he and his wife established after his arrest. Court-ordered conditions include assessment for drug and alcohol use, abstaining from non-prescribed drugs, and maintaining at least 25 feet from operable aircraft without permission from his probation officer.

The case highlights intersections of substance use and mental health within an occupation that federal regulators tightly regulate for safety. Aviation industry rules bar impairment in flight operations and generally require reporting and treatment for safety-sensitive employees who use illicit substances or face mental-health crises. Prosecutors and investigators have said Emerson's actions created immediate danger to passengers and crew; no injuries were reported.

Federal and state officials will proceed with sentencing and the oversight conditions laid down by the Oregon court. The federal plea ends the criminal trial phase in federal court but leaves final sentencing to the federal judge, who will consider the plea agreement and the parties' recommendations on Nov. 17.