Off-duty pilot accused of trying to crash Alaska Airlines jet cites breakdown

Joseph David Emerson, an off-duty pilot who allegedly tried to crash a plane, said he thought he was having a nervous breakdown, court documents show. 

He also told police he had taken magic mushrooms and had been depressed. 

He’s pleased not guilty to 83 counts of attempted murder in an Oregon court on Tuesday. 

Emerson was sitting in the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines jet behind the captain when he allegedly attempted to shut off the engine. 

Emerson told the pilots “I am not okay” before reaching for the shutoff handles, according to the documents.

Had he been successful, a fire suppression system used to fight blazes in the jet engines would have been activated and cut off the supply of fuel.

The criminal complaint states one pilot claims he had to wrestle Emerson for about 90 seconds, eventually getting him out of the cockpit. 

One flight attendant told investigators they had observed Emerson saying “I messed everything up” and that he “tried to kill everybody”.