Ex-pilot who tried shutting off engines says he "had no intention of crashing" plane
Former airline captain Joseph Emerson said he takes full responsibility for the night in October 2023 that changed his life.
"I had no intention of crashing an actual airplane. I wanted to wake up. I was convinced I wasn't going home to my wife and kids," he said in an interview that aired on "CBS Mornings" on Thursday.
At the time, Emerson said he had been grieving the death of his best friend and first turned to alcohol before experimenting with the psychedelic drug. Two days after trying so-called 'magic mushrooms' for the first time, he boarded Alaska Air Flight 2059 as a passenger from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. It was a full flight, with 83 other passengers and crew on board, so he was given the cockpit jump seat behind the pilot and first officer.
"Most consequential three seconds of my life"
Suddenly, he said he felt a sense of "all-out panic and fear" on the plane as the drugs altered his perception of reality.
"You're not going home. You need to wake up. That's when I acted. I pulled the handles that were in front of my face," Emerson recalled thinking as he pulled the handles that cut off fuel to the engines in the event of a fire.
While in the apparent dissociative state, Emerson said he didn't realize the serious consequences of his actions.
"I mean, in the dream, in that dissociative state, I thought they were going to wake me up. It didn't wake me up, right? I was in reality. I know that now. You know, it's the most consequential three seconds of my life," Emerson said.
The flight was diverted and landed safely in Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was arrested. He's set to be arraigned next month on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew, and faces a host of state charges including 83 misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and one felony count of first-degree endangering aircraft.
The case reignited the conversation about barriers facing pilots when it comes to their mental health.
Pilots' mental health
Disclosing mental health issues can lead to a pilot being grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration, putting their ability to work at risk for an extended period of time, possibly lasting years. A 2022 study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine estimated 56% of pilots avoid seeking medical care due to fear of losing their certification to fly.
"I came to an understanding, or a misunderstanding, that I needed to be perfect on paper. I needed to show up and appear perfect, no matter what else was going on for me," Emerson said.
The National Transportation Safety Board has since held a first of its kind pilot mental health forum to review existing pilot mental health rules. The FAA also launched a review of policies – both calling for changes to address barriers to care.
"We need to have a system that allows people to be more forthcoming and to have treatment for issues that shouldn't keep you out of the cockpit," then-FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker said months after the incident, in December 2023.
The FAA review committee made 24 recommendations.
Illinois Rep. Sean Casten and Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber are leading an effort in Congress to enact reforms within two years, introducing the bipartisan Mental Health in Aviation Act to help pilots and air traffic controllers get access to mental health care and hire additional medical examiners.
"The goal really simply is to make our skies safer and make our pilots safer. That's it," Casten told "CBS Mornings."
The bill would also require the FAA to annually review and update the process related to mental health-related special issuance of medical certificates to pilots and air traffic controllers, set aside 13.74 million dollars a year for the next three years to hire additional certified Aviation Medical Examiners, and authorize a three year $4.5 million dollar public information campaign aimed at destigmatizing mental health care among pilots and air traffic controllers.
"Our pilots and air traffic controllers are not going to lose their job when they ask for help. We in this country must recognize that that's strength. And they're not to be punished. We're going to help them, process them, and get them back into cockpits," Stauber added.
The bill maintains the FAA's rigorous process for determining a pilot is safe to resume flying but aims to cut red tape and increase transparency. It has unanimously passed the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last month and has the backing of the largest pilot unions. The bill has advanced to the House of Representatives for consideration. The FAA declined to comment on the bill.
Emerson says he's been sober since the incident. He and his wife have started a nonprofit, Clear Skies Ahead, aimed at improving pilot health and wellness.
"I hope that there are lessons that we can learn from my experience. And that's kind of why I'm talking you today," Emerson said.
Son of man who was violently detained by ICE reacts after release
Mike Johnson breaks from Trump, calls on DOJ to release Epstein files
7.3 magnitude earthquake hits southern Alaska
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
9 hours ago
- New York Times
‘I Want to Clear My Name': Deported Migrant Takes First Step to Sue the U.S.
A Venezuelan migrant took the first step on Thursday toward suing the United States for what he says was his wrongful detention and removal to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel, 27, spent four months in the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, where he said he was beaten and abused. He filed an administrative claim on Thursday with the Homeland Security Department, accusing U.S. immigration agencies of removing him without due process. It is the first such claim to be filed by one of the 252 Venezuelan men who were expelled and sent to El Salvador in March, his lawyers said, and is a necessary step before taking legal action against the U.S. government in federal court. Mr. Rengel, who is seeking $1.3 million in damages, was released last week as part of a large-scale prisoner swap between Venezuela and the United States. He is now living in Venezuela. 'I want to clear my name,' he said in a phone interview late Wednesday from his home in the state of Miranda. 'I am not a bad person.' The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately comment on Mr. Rengel's claim. The detention of Venezuelan men in El Salvador in March was one of the first high-profile efforts to fulfill President Trump's campaign promise of mass deportations. His administration has accused the migrants of belonging to a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, and his administration has used the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely invoked wartime law, to justify capturing and removing many of the men to El Salvador. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Bloomberg
9 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Trump Ally Sues Powell Demanding FOMC Meeting Public Access
An investment firm headed by a supporter of President Donald Trump sued Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and other Fed officials demanding public access to monetary policy meetings. James Fishback's Azoria Capital said in a suit filed Thursday that the decades-old practice of holding Federal Open Market Committee meetings behind closed doors violates government transparency laws. The fund asked a federal court in Washington to require the Fed to open its July 29-30 meeting.
CBS News
9 hours ago
- CBS News
U.S. Dept. of Education investigating 2 Michigan universities for alleged exclusionary scholarships under DACA
The U.S. Department of Education says it's investigating five American universities, including two in Michigan, for what it called possible violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, saying their DACA-affiliated scholarship programs may be discriminatory. The investigation, announced Wednesday, is targeting the University of Michigan and Western Michigan University, along with the University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha and the University of Miami. The federal education department says its intention is to "determine whether these universities are granting scholarships only for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals." DACA, often referred to as the Dream Act, has allowed hundreds of thousands of immigrants who crossed into the U.S. illegally or overstayed their visas as minors to live and work in the U.S., without fear of deportation. The education department drew attention to the University of Wisconsin's Dreamer scholarship and Western Michigan University's WMU Undocumented/DACA Scholarship. Neither the Trump Administration's America first policies nor the Civil Right (sic) Act of 1964's prohibition on national origin discrimination permit universities to deny our fellow citizens the opportunity to compete for scholarships because they were born in the United States," Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said. In announcing their investigation, the education department said they will also "examine additional scholarships that appear to exclude students based on other aspects of Title VI, including race and color." Kay Jarvis, director of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin, responded to Wednesday's announcement, saying, "The university has received a letter of notification relating to this matter. We have no further comment." CBS Detroit has reached out to Western Michigan University for comment and is awaiting a response. Last week, the same department announced it was launching a separate investigation into the University of Wisconsin following the arrests of Chinese nationals in a number of pathogen smuggling Montoya-Galvez and DeJanay Booth-Singleton contributed to this report.
