Pilot Who Attempted Engine Flame-Out had Used Hallucinogens

On 22 October 2023, off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph David Emerson, 44, attempted to deploy the engine fire-suppression systems of an in-flight Horizon Air Embraer E-175. Had he succeeded, the regional jet’s powerplants, both of them, would likely have flamed out over the mountainous terrain south of Seattle, Washington.

Comes now 30 October and news that Emerson was returning home from an emotional weekend during which he was reminded acutely of a close friend who’d died unexpectedly nearly six-years ago.

Emerson was deeply affected by the loss, becoming depressed and irritable; so stated his wife, Sarah Stretch, who reported the outward manifestations of her husband’s depression and ire worsened every year in the days preceding and following the anniversary of his friend’s passing.

Stretch, who prevailed upon Emerson to seek professional and pharmacological help for his psychological afflictions, set forth: “I had brought up during that, I was like, ‘Maybe you should talk to somebody.’ And then he expressed to me, ‘Sarah, I can’t be out of work. We have to pay a mortgage. If I go do that, I have to go through all these other hoops …and we can’t afford to do that.’”

The Federal Aviation Administration’s policies regarding mental health are broadly held to be onerous and outdated. Ergo, pilots eschew the practice of seeking help for oftentimes treatable depression and anxiety. A 2016 study indicated some 12.6-percent of commercial pilots suffered from depression and 4.1-percent reported suicidal thoughts in the two weeks prior to being surveyed. Researchers concluded hundreds of pilots currently flying for Part 121 air-carriers are surreptitiously contending with depression.

Retired airline pilot Carl Eisen stated: “If each aircraft requires two pilots, that means one out of four aircraft that are out there flying, are flying with a pilot that would qualify as clinically depressed. … If that were dangerous, airplanes would be raining out of the sky on a regular basis. So it doesn’t seem that this poses a huge safety risk, although it’s less than ideal.”

Eisen, who suffered anxiety during his flying career, now teaches meditation to his fellow pilots.

The FAA tasks pilots with self-reporting physical and mental health issues. Ironically, the agency has demonstrated a reflexive and protracted propensity for suspending the flight privileges of airmen who disclose the onset of depression or anxiety, or report they’ve begun seeing therapists. Moreover, regaining suspended flight privileges is a complex, time-consuming, and utterly uncertain business.

Seeking to preserve their livelihoods, many pilots, despite having health insurance plans covering such, pay out of pocket for therapists’ services. Those who follow federal policy and make known their difficulties are obligated to see FAA-approved specialists, pass batteries of tests, and voluntarily submit their therapists’ notes to the FAA. Pilots prescribed antidepressant medications are permitted to use only one of five FAA-approved selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Should they opt to remain on medication, pilots must use the drug for a minimum of six-months before they can reapply for medical clearance and the reissuance of their medical certificates. Pilots who discontinue antidepressant medications must wait a minimum of sixty-days before reapplying for medical reinstatement.

Dr. Brent Blue, a physician and senior aviation medical examiner who works with pilots battling drug and alcohol issues, opined: “It is not an easy process for them to get back into the cockpit. They will have to go through these evaluations by a psychiatrist and a neuropsychologist to do that. … This is a pilot who basically is being responsible saying, ‘I am not up to flying because of my grief or whatever.’”

None of the FAA mandated steps are covered by insurance. And the process—the required tests, psychological evaluations, traveling to specialists, etc.—a cost thousands of dollars. What’s more, the entirety of the described expenses and hardships are borne while pilots are grounded and effectively out of work.

Part 121 pilots flying for major airlines and represented by powerful labor unions have the option to apply for short-term and, after six-months, long-term disability benefits while they wait for medical clearance. The rates vary by airline, but long-term disability pay is often only fifty-percent of pilot’s contractual salaries

Joseph David Emerson has worked as a professional pilot since 2001. Over that 22-year span, he flew for Horizon Air and Virgin America before returning to the Alaska Air Group and earning a seat on the main airline. He earned his captain’s stripes in 2019 and transitioned into Alaska’s training department, vetting and schooling new pilots in the airline’s simulators.

According to court records, a short time into the fateful 22 October flight to SFO, Emerson, who’d not slept in forty-hours, threw off his headset and declared, “I’m not okay!”

At some point during the preceding, sleepless interval, Emerson had imbibed psychedelic mushrooms;” so he informed investigators. Emerson further stated he thought he’d reached for the Embraer’s fire-suppression system activation controls whilst in a dream.

Upon being brought around to his senses by the E-175’s flight-crew, Emerson willingly left the flight-deck and requested members of the aircraft’s cabin-crew restrain him lest he again part company with reality.

An FBI affidavit ascribed Emerson’s attempt to activate the Embraer’s engine fire-suppression system to his being under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms. The agent by whom the affidavit was authored asserted Emerson informed a police officer he’d never previously tried mushrooms of the psychedelic persuasion—that was until about 36-hours before he boarded Alaska Airlines Flight 2059 from Everett, Washington to San Francisco, California. By way of pharmacological fact, the mind-altering effects of hallucinogenic mushrooms endure for approximately six-hours after ingestion.

While Emerson currently faces 83 counts of attempted murder, nothing atypical was observed in his demeanor during the hours leading up to his attempt to activate the E-175’s engine fire-suppression system. Emerson, in fact, had standing lunch plans with a friend and had texted his wife to express his eagerness to see her and the couple’s children.

FMI: www.faa.gov