Joe Emerson, the pilot who attempted to shut down the engines of an in-flight Alaska Airlines plane, shares his story with ABC News.
  • Vector@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    Save you a click:

    Joe Emerson had been struggling over the death of his best friend, Scott, a pilot who died while on a run six years earlier. Emerson had been away for the weekend with friends, celebrating and remembering Scott.

    …

    On Friday night, the group took psychedelic mushrooms – a drug that can make you hallucinate and typically has effects that last a few hours. Emerson said that for him, the physical side effects lasted days, and the consequences a lifetime.

    …

    “There are two red handles in front of my face,” Emerson recalled. “And thinking that I was going to wake up, thinking this is my way to get out of this non-real reality, I reached up and I grabbed them, and I pulled the levers.”

      • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
        0·
        2 months ago

        Or, just maybe don’t do drugs if you know you have to fly a plane soon and are possibly struggling with depression.

        • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
          01·
          2 months ago

          He wasn’t flying the plane.

          He was getting a free flight from his airline because he was a pilot.

          Think it was a cargo plane so he was one of the only passengers. He freaked out, entered the cabin, and started trying to crash the plane. The actual pilots had to hit him with a wrench or something I think to stop him.

          And he took them like 12 hours before the flight, this was at the “this is a dream I have to wake up” stage.

          At least. That’s what I remember from one this happened, it’s been a minute

          • Rhaedas@fedia.io
            0·
            2 months ago

            He was getting a free flight from his airline because he was a pilot.

            Think it was a cargo plane so he was one of the only passengers. He freaked out, entered the cabin, and started trying to crash the plane. The actual pilots had to hit him with a wrench or something I think to stop him.

            This sounds like the FedEx hijacking attempt, flight 705.