Crazed pilot Joseph Emerson said he took magic mushrooms before trying to down flight: feds

The out-of-control airline pilot who tried to down an Alaskan Airlines flight midair told cops he had taken magic mushrooms before the flight, it emerged Tuesday.

Joseph Emerson, 44, an off-duty commercial airline pilot, went off the rails while sitting in the cockpit jump seat of a flight between Everett, Washington, and San Francisco on Sunday — trying to cut the fuel to the engines before he had to be held down by crew members.

Even while restrained, Emerson tried to open the emergency doors on the Alaskan flight, which was being operated by Horizon Air, as the pilots frantically guided the craft to the ground. When later interviewed by police he said he had a “nervous breakdown” after not sleeping for 40 hours and taking psychedelic mushrooms for the first time.

Yeah ..maybe. Southern Airways Flight 242, not so much.

Very different scenario. They were at a much lower altitude, flying through severe thunderstorms, and were likely distracted by heavy hail damage to the aircraft, especially cockpit windows blown out by the hail. The aircraft in the present-day situation had none of those distractions, was at much higher altitude, and would also benefit from modern avionics that make it simple to quickly find the nearest airport and navigate to it. At the approximate altitude this aircraft was flying at, they would have been able to glide for over 100 miles, giving them plenty of options for a landing at an airport, as opposed to the road that Southern Airways 242 attempted to use.

I’m a sailplane pilot and am often amazed at how many airline passengers believe that engine failure will cause the aircraft to fall from the sky. It doesn’t work that way. The aerodynamic principles are exactly the same for any fixed-wing aircraft, whether a single engine Cessna, or a sailplane, or a commercial jet. The only differences are the respective glide ratios and the speed at which best L/D (lift to drag ratio) occurs. While a jet can’t come close to the glide ratio of a high performance sailplane (typically over 40:1 - 40 feet forward for every 1 foot of altitude lost), a typical commercial jet still has a glide ratio of around 17 to 1, meaning that a jet at 35,000’, for example, can glide for about 112 miles (in still air and assuming the airport is at or near sea level).

Flying is great.

It’s crashing that is the problem.

I flew at least 2 sometimes 4 times a week.

Mostly good. A few flights over the years. 4-5 memorable not so good.

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