According to court documents, Joseph Emerson told police he hadn't slept in 40 hours and started suffering from depression six months ago. He also told flight attendants to restrain him after he allegedly tried to shut off the plane's engines.
Bay Area pilot Joseph Emerson who allegedly tried to shut down Alaska Airlines plane's engines thought he was dreaming, according to court documents.The off-duty airline pilot accused of trying to crash a plane headed for San Francisco is scheduled to be arraigned in court in Oregon this afternoon.
The pilot 44-year-old Joseph Emerson -- who lives in Pleasant Hill -- faces 83 charges of attempted murder. According to court documents, Emerson told police he hadn't slept in 40 hours and started suffering from depression six months ago. He also told flight attendants to restrain him, told police he was having a "nervous breakdown," discussed use of psychedelic mushrooms and said he thought he was dreaming and just wanted to wake up.He first tried to cut the plane's engines - by pulling the fire-extinguisher handles - known as the "T handles."
"The T handle, which is what this individual tried to pull on each engine, actually turns the engine off and prepares it for a fire extinguisher. The problem is at high altitude, you can get the engines restarted. At low altitude, that could be a fatal result," said ABC News Aviation Analyst John Nance.More VideosHow off-duty pilot attempted to shut off Alaska flight's engine
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