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Published October 29, 2023, 7:48 p.m. ET
The Alaska Airlines pilot who twice tried to crash a crowded passenger plane during a magic mushroom-induced meltdown had refused to reveal information about his mental health because he feared he would be grounded, a report said .
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, Joseph Emerson, 44, was deeply depressed before the bizarre incident on an Oct. 22 flight to San Francisco, but told his wife he couldn’t afford to get on the airline.
“I thought, ‘Maybe you should talk to someone,'” Emerson’s wife, Sarah Stretch, told the outlet.
“And then he said to me, ‘Sarah, I can’t be unemployed,'” she recalled her husband telling her. “‘We have a mortgage to pay. If I do that, I’m going to have to go through all these other hurdles… and we can’t afford that.’”
The veteran pilot had to be restrained on the flight between Everett, Washington and San Francisco after he attempted to shut down the engines and open an emergency exit mid-flight, authorities said.
He later told police that he had taken psychedelic mushrooms before the flight.
Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph Emerson told his wife, Sarah Stretch, that he was afraid to report his depression to the airline because he feared he would be grounded. On October 22, he freaked out during a flight and tried to crash the plane twice. Joseph Emerson/Facebook Joseph Emerson, an Alaska Airlines pilot, was detained on a flight Oct. 22 after he attempted to shut down the plane’s engines and jumped toward an emergency exit in mid-air. He told his wife he was depressed but was afraid to tell his superiors. Courtesy of Aubrey Gavello
Emerson was a passenger in the cockpit of the Horizons Air Alaska Airlines flight – a courtesy for off-duty pilots when traveling with their airline.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses and regulates the conduct of pilots in the United States, allows them to self-report mental or physical problems – but pulls them from the cockpit if they do so.
Pilots must then undergo a comprehensive review before being cleared to fly again. This, experts say, serves as a deterrent for them to speak openly about any issues they may be dealing with.
“It’s not an easy process for them to get back into the cockpit,” said Dr. Brent Blue, a senior flight medic who works with pilots, told Oregon Public Broadcasting.
“To do this, they have to undergo these examinations by a psychiatrist and a neuropsychologist,” he said. “This is a pilot who is basically in charge and saying, ‘I’m not up to flying because I’m grieving or whatever.’
Joseph Emerson, an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot, has been charged with 83 counts of attempted murder after officials said he tried to crash a plane twice during a crazy flight on Oct. 22. He told his wife that he was suffering from depression. POOL An The Alaskan Airlines flight from Everett, Washington to San Francisco on Oct. 22 was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Oregon after off-duty pilot Joseph Emerson went off-track and attempted to shut down the engines and open a door in mid-air .Getty Images
Pilots can apply for short-term disability and long-term disability after six months – but pay during the leave is usually around 50% of their salary, although the rate varies depending on the airline.
Stretch said her husband had been struggling emotionally since the death of a close friend – who served as best man at the couple’s wedding – more than five years ago, and was returning from a trip with mutual friends when he began behaving bizarrely on the flight have set the day.
According to a 2016 study by the National Library of Medicine, 12.6% of commercial airline pilots reported some level of depression and more than 4% reported suicidal thoughts.
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