Former pilot who took mushrooms, tried to shut down engines midflight pleads guilty

A former Alaska Airlines pilot pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday for trying to shut down the engines of a passenger plane in midair from a cockpit jump seat, prompting an in-flight emergency. Joseph Emerson, 46, reached plea agreements in both his federal and state cases in Oregon stemming from the October 2023 flight, his attorney told ABC News. He pleaded guilty to interference with flight crew members and attendants in federal court in Portland, online court records show. In a court filing on the guilty plea, Emerson said he had used psilocybin, which is found in mushrooms, two days before the flight "and I was still suffering from the aftereffects of this drug." "Although I was sitting in the jump seat and interacting with the flight crew, I believed I was either dreaming and f