An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut off the engines during a flight on Sunday told investigators that he had been sleepless and dehydrated since he consumed psychedelic mushrooms about 48 hours before boarding and that he had been depressed for a long time, state and federal court documents said.
The pilot, Joseph D. Emerson, 44, also told the police in an interview after he was taken into custody that he believed he was having a “nervous breakdown,” according to federal court documents. He said he had struggled with depression for about six years and that a friend had recently died.
An officer and Mr. Emerson “talked about the use of psychedelic mushrooms, and Emerson said it was his first time taking mushrooms,” the federal documents said. The documents did not elaborate on the quantity of psilocybin from mushrooms that he said he had consumed, and it was not known if the authorities had given him a drug test.
In the interview, Mr. Emerson also gave his version of what happened when he was riding inside the cockpit in a jump seat, a common practice for off-duty pilots shuttling to and from work.
Read More: Pilot Who Disrupted Flight Said He Had Taken Psychedelic Mushrooms, Complaint