Off-duty pilot took magic mushrooms and ‘tried to crash plane’ with 83 passengers on board
One off-duty pilot has faced trial after attempting to crash a plane under the influence of magic mushrooms, and he claimed that he was allegedly having a 'nervous breakdown'.
There's an immense amount of trust that passengers on a plane put into their pilot, as they're trained to guide the flight out of a number of dangerous scenarios.
Heroics have allowed pilots to save passengers in unlikely situations, yet what do you do if your pilot doesn't believe they're actually flying the plane?
That's what happened in the case of Joseph David Emerson, who had taken a "small amount of psilocybin" which is found in mushrooms two days prior to the flight in question, causing him to have a panic attack in a 'dream-like' state, as reported by ABC News.
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Emerson's attorneys explained: "Simply put: Captain Emerson thought he was in a dream; his actions were taken in a single-minded effort to wake up from that dream and return home to his family."
It began with Emerson in the flight deck jump seat within the cockpit, where he is described as engaging in 'casual conversation' with his co-pilots.
This quickly went south though as he attempted to pull down the two red fire handles which would have stopped fuel from reaching the engines and effectively crashed the plane.
Upon reaching for the handles, Emerson allegedly remarked: "I'm not OK," and he had to be wrestled away by his coworkers and restrained at the rear of the plane to avoid any other incidents.
This led to Emerson claiming that he was having a "nervous breakdown" to officers upon his arrest, and he was initially charged with 83 charges of attempted murder and one charge of endangering aircraft in the first degree.
These charges have since been downgraded by the grand jury from attempted murder to 'recklessly endangering another person'.
Emerson's attorneys revealed in reference to the attempted murder charges that they "were never appropriate in this case because Captain Emerson never intended to hurt another person or put anyone at risk - he just wanted to return home to his wife and children."
He was granted bail under a number of strict conditions which included a $50,000 security bond, a ban from taking any intoxicants (including alcohol), and a rule that prohibited him from coming within 30 feet of any operable aircraft.
Emerson is also required to attend mental health services in order to come to terms with his alleged 'nervous breakdown', and there won't be any incidents like this again in the future.