Former Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph Emerson is a free man after a judge sentenced him to time served.

Emerson was accused of trying to crash a flight in October 2023 after taking psychedelic mushrooms just days earlier. Speaking in court, he said, “It’s 30 seconds in my life I wish I could change, and I can’t.”

Emerson had been riding in the jump seat, off-duty, on a flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco when he says he began hallucinating.

“There was a feeling of being trapped. This is not real. I need to wake up,” he recalled.

During the episode, he stood up in the cockpit and pulled the red engine shutoff handles, which are only meant to be used in case of a fire. Thankfully, the engines did not power down, and the flight crew landed the plane safely.

Emerson was taken

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