Former pilot who tried to cut off engines during flight after taking magic mushrooms pleads guilty

A former commercial airline pilot who tried to shut off the engines of a passenger plane mid-flight in 2023 was convicted Friday and sentenced to probation, but he still faces a federal sentencing, officials said

A former commercial airline pilot who tried to shut off the engines of a passenger plane mid-flight in 2023 was convicted Friday and sentenced to probation, but he still faces a federal sentencing, officials said.

Joseph Emerson, who was off-duty and not piloting the Horizon Airlines flight but was riding along in a cockpit jump seat, has said he had taken the drug psilocybin, a hallucinogen known as magic mushrooms, before the Oct. 22, 2023, incident above Oregon and regrets it.

He pleaded no contest to reckless endangerment and first-degree endangering an aircraft in Oregon state court, and guilty in federal court, officials said.

Joseph David Emerson, left, appears in Multnomah County Circuit Court for an indictment hearing in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 7, 2023.Dave Killen / Pool/The Oregonian via AP fileIn state court Emerson was sentenced Friday to 50 days in jail, which he has already served, five years’ probation, 664 hours of community service and $60,569 in restitution.

“What Joseph Emerson did was reckless, selfish, and criminal,” Multnomah County, Oregon, Deputy District Attorney Eric Pickard said after sentencing. “We should remember how close he came to ruining the lives of not just the 84 people aboard Flight 2059, but all of their family members and friends as well.”