A former off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to crash a San Francisco-bound flight by shutting off the engines while on a sleepless bender fueled by psycahdelic mushrooms won’t serve any additional prison time, a federal judge ruled.
Joseph Emerson was sentenced Monday to time served and three years’ supervised release by US District Court Judge Amy Baggio in Portland, Oregon — dodging a year of prison time sought by federal prosecutors.
“Pilots are not perfect. They are human,” Baggio said. “They are people, and all people need help sometimes.”
Emerson was subdued by the flight crew aboard a Horizon flight from Everett, Washington to San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2023, after trying to cut the engines while riding off-duty in the cockpit.
He told police that he was grieving his friend and had taken psychedelic mushrooms two days earlier and hadn’t slept in over 40 hours when he tried to pull the hijinx on the flight with over 80 passengers on board.
Emerson recalled believing he was dreaming and tried to wake up by grabbing two red handles that could have activated the fire suppression system and cut fuel to the engines.
Had he been successful, he would have immediately cut off the flow of fuel to the engines.
The flight was diverted and landed in Portland after the harrowing ordeal.
His attorney, Ethan Levi, described Emerson’s actions as “a product of untreated alcohol use disorder.” The distressed pilot had been drinking and accepted mushrooms “because of his lower inhibitions.”
Emerson spent 46 days in jail and was released pending his trial in Dec. 2023, with the court ordering him to stay sober from drugs and alcohol, undergo mental health services, and stay away from aircraft.
He went to treatment after jail and has been sober since, Levi said.
Before he was sentenced, Emerson said he regretted the harm he caused.
“I’m not a victim. I am here as a direct result of my actions,” Emerson told the court. “I can tell you that this very tragic event has forced me to grow as an individual.”
His wife, Sarah Stretch, also told the courtroom that she was proud of how her husband had grown since the incident.
“I am so sorry for those that it’s impacted as much as it has,” Stretch said.
One of the pilots aboard the Horizon Air flight, Alan Koziol, recalled not believing that Emerson had been trying to hurt anyone by reaching to cut the engines, and that he seemed “more like a trapped animal than a man in control of his faculties,” he recalled.
Kozial maintained that while pilots bear an “immense responsibility,” the aviation industry should allow pilots more freedom to seek mental health care.
Geoffrey Barrow, assistant US attorney in the district of Oregon, said Emerson’s actions were serious and that the crew “saved the day by intervening.”
“There were 84 people on that plane who could have lost their lives,” he said.
A passenger aboard the flight, Alison Snyder, told the courtroom over the phone that she and her husband will never feel safe flying again after Emerson pulled the near-catastrophic maneuver.
“Because of Joseph Emerson’s actions that day, we will never feel as safe flying as we once did,” she said.
Emerson pleaded guilty in September to all charges against him as part of an agreement with prosecutors.
He faced federal charges of interfering with a flight crew. A state indictment in Oregon separately charged him with 83 counts of endangering another person and one count of endangering an aircraft.
On the state level, he was sentenced to 50 days in jail, with credit for time served, and five years of probation.
The state court also ordered him to complete 664 hours of community service, half of which he can serve at his own pilot health nonprofit, “Clear Skies Ahead.”
He will additionally shell out $60,000 in restitution, mostly to Alaska Air Group, and abide by provisions on drugs, alcohol, mental health treatment, and avoiding aircraft, the state ordered.
With Post wires.
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