The former Alaska Airlines pilot, who attempted to turn off the engines of a passenger airplane mid-flight due to a drug-induced confusion, is starting a non-profit for pilots with mental health issues.
The former pilot who attempted to turn off the engines of a passenger airplane mid-flight hopes he can one day fly again. Joseph Emerson, 44, discussed the tragic lapse in reason that ruined his career, the emotional impact it had on his family and his outlook on the future in his most in-depth interview since the incident. "It's 30 seconds of my life that I wish I could change, and I can’t," he told ABC News in an interview published Friday.
Emerson was riding in the jump seat of Horizon Air Flight 2059, an Alaska Airlines affiliate, when he allegedly tried to pull two handles that would have engaged a fire-suppression system and cut fuel to the engines. The then-pilot had taken psychedelic mushrooms the week before the incident during a weekend trip with buddies in remembrance of their deceased friend.
At the end of the day, I accept responsibility for the choices that I made. They're my choices," Emerson said. "What I hope through the judicial processes is that the entirety of not just 30 seconds of the event, but the entirety of my experience is accounted for as society judges me on what happened. And I will accept what the debt that society says I owe.
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Former Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut down engines in-flight shares his storyJoseph Emerson was inside an Alaska Airlines cockpit last October when he raised his arms and pulled two large red levers that could have shut down both engines, at 30,000 feet. He calls the incident the worst 30 seconds of his life.
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Former Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut down engines in-flight shares his storyJoseph Emerson was inside an Alaska Airlines cockpit last October when he raised his arms and pulled two large red levers that could have shut down both engines, at 30,000 feet. He calls the incident the worst 30 seconds of his life.
Read more »
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Read more »
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