Neutobule Alaska Airlines pilot is accused of For an attempt to turn off the passenger jet engine engines in 2023. In the middle of the flight, he remembered the terrible moment he flew out of reality, eating “magical mushrooms.”
Former airline captain Joseph Emerson said he takes full responsibility for 2023. October At night that changed his life.
“I wasn’t going to break down a real plane. I wanted to wake up. I was convinced that I was not going home to my wife and children,” he said in an interview that showed CBS Mornings Thursday.
At the time, Emerson said he was grieving for his best friend’s death and first appealed to alcohol before experimenting with a psychedelic drug. Two days after he first tried the so -called “magic mushrooms”, he boarded Alaska Air flight in 2059. As a passenger from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco. It was a full flight with another 83 passengers and crew, so he was given a booth jump seat behind the pilot and first officer.
“Most of the three seconds of my life”
Suddenly, he said he felt a sense of “full panic and fear” on the plane because drugs changed his perception of reality.
“You’re not going home. You have to wake up. That’s when I was right. I pulled the handles that were in front of my face,” the Emerson recalled, thinking when he pulled the handles that cut off the fuel into the engines.
Being in an obvious dissociative state, Emerson said he did not realize the serious consequences of his actions.
“I mean in a dream, in that dissociative state, I thought they would wake me up. It didn’t wake me up, right? I really know it. Now you know that these are the most preserved three seconds of my life,” said Emerson.
The flight was directed and landed safely in Portland, Oregon, where Emerson was arrested. Next month, he will be appointed to the Federal Charity of the Flight Crew and faces numerous state accusations, including 83 cases of misconduct, which are causing a threat to another person and one crime, which is a first -degree risk to a harmful aircraft.
The case has again changed the conversation about the obstacles facing the pilots when it comes to their mental health.
Pilot mental health
Revealing mental health problems, the pilot can be based on the federal aviation administration, so that for a long time, perhaps long -term years, may risk. 2022 The study published in Vocational and Environmental Medicine, 56% of pilots avoid seeking medical supervision due to fear of losing a certificate to fly.
“I understood or the misunderstanding that I needed to be perfect on paper. I needed to show up and show up perfect, no matter what was happening to me,” said Emerson.
Since then the National Transport Safety Board has organized the first of its kind Pilot’s mental health forum View the existing rules of the test mental health. FAA has also announced a policy review – both are encouraged to change changes related to obstacles to custody.
“We need to have a system that allows people to be more future and be treated with questions that should not distract you from the cab,” said the then FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker months after this event, 2023. December
The FAA Review Committee made 24 recommendations.
Illinois spokesman Sean Casten and Minnesota representative Pete Stauberis in Congress leads efforts to implement reforms within two years, presenting bilateral mental health in the Aviation Aviation Act to help pilots and air traffic controllers access to mental health care and hire additional medical experts.
“The goal is to really make our sky safer and make our pilots safer. That’s all,” Casten CBS Mornings said.
The draft law would also require the FAA to review and update the process related to the special medical certificate to pilots and air traffic controllers, to delay $ 13.74 million. Dollars for three years a year to rent additional certified aviation medical examiners and authorize a three -year $ 4.5 million.
“Our pilots and air traffic controllers do not lose their job when asking for help. We have to admit that this is strength. And they do not have to be punished. We are going to help them, process and bring them back to cocktails,” Stauber added.
The account supports the strict FAA process to determine the pilot, it is safe to renew flying, but the aim is to reduce bureaucracy and increase transparency. Last month, she unanimously adopted the Home Transport and Infrastructure Committee and supported the largest pilot union. The draft law entered the House of Representatives to consider. FAA refused to comment on the bill.
Emerson says he was sober since the incident. He and his wife started a non -profit, clear sky to improve the health and health of the pilot.
“I hope there are lessons we can learn from my experience. And that’s why I’m talking to you today,” said Emerson.
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