PORTLAND, Ore. — The off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot accused of attempting to shut down the engines on a plane midflight also allegedly attempted to open an emergency door after he was removed from the cockpit. He warned flight attendants at one point that they should handcuff him, and later said that he had taken psychedelic mushrooms, according to a federal affidavit filed Tuesday.When police interviewed 44-year-old Joseph Emerson after the plane was diverted to Portland on Sunday, he told them he thought he was having a "nervous breakdown" and had not slept in 40 hours. He denied taking any medication, according to the affidavit, but told police he became depressed six months ago and talked to an officer about the use of psychedelic mushrooms, stating that it was his first time taking mushrooms.
"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," Emerson told police, according to the court documents. He later added "I pulled both emergency shut off handles because I thought I was dreaming and I just wanna wake up."
Alaska Airlines said Emerson had been riding in the cockpit jumpseat on a flight from Everett to San Francisco Sunday when he attempted to activate the fire suppression systems in both engines, which would have caused them to shut down. The plane's two pilots prevented him from doing so, and he was subdued and removed from the cockpit. Emerson was arrested after the flight landed at Portland International Airport.
According to a probable cause affidavit written by an FBI special agent based on interviews with the two on-duty pilots, Emerson gave no initial indication that anything was wrong during the first half of the flight, and engaged the two in casual conversation about types of aircraft and the weather.
When the plane was about halfway between Astoria and Portland, Emerson said "I'm not okay," and one of the pilots saw him throw his headset across the cockpit, then reach up and pull the two red handles that would activate the fire suppression system.
One of the pilots grabbed his wrist, while the other declared an in-flight emergency. Emerson resisted, wrestled with one of the pilots for about 30 seconds, then "quickly settled down," according to the affidavit.
The pilots asked Emerson to leave the cockpit and he agreed. The pilots then changed course to Portland.
Flight attendants who were interviewed told investigators that Emerson peacefully walked to the back of the plane after leaving the cockpit and told a flight attendant that he had "just got kicked out of the flight deck," then told another attendant "you need to cuff me right now it's going to be bad."
The flight attendants put him in handcuffs and seated him in a flight attendant seat at the back of the plane. During the descent into Portland, Emerson turned toward an emergency exit door and tried to grab the handle, but a flight attendant grabbed his hands and stopped him. Flight attendants then tried to talk to him to distract him from trying to grab the handle again.
Another flight attendant said they heard Emerson say things like "I messed everything up" and that he "tried to kill everybody."
Emerson reportedly asked to waive his right to an attorney after he was arrested, telling police "I'm admitting to what I did. I'm not fighting any charges you want to bring against me, guys," according to the affidavit.
Emerson had pulled the red handles but had been unable to pull them down all the way due to wrestling with the other two pilots, and the system wasn't fully activated.
"If Emerson had successfully pulled the red engine shutoff handles down all the way, then it would have shut down the hydraulics and the fuel to the engines, turning the aircraft into a glider within seconds," according to the affidavit.
Emerson is scheduled to make an appearance in state court at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
