A PILOT has appeared in court on 83 counts of attempted murder after allegedly trying to shut down a plane's engine while high on magic mushrooms.
Joseph Emerson, 44, was off duty when he allegedly attempted to turn off the engines' fuel supply on a flight from Washington to San Francisco.
The Alaska Airlines pilot appeared in court in a blue prison jumpsuit and a pink t-shirt underneath.
During the hearing, Emerson did not address the court but spoke to his attorney from behind a glass partition.
He pleaded not guilty to all 83 counts of attempted murder through his lawyer.
R&B star Anita Pointer of The Pointer Sisters dies aged 74
Emerson has also been charged in federal court for interfering with flight crew and faces further state charges of 83 counts of attempted murder and reckless endangerment.
According to his testimony, Emerson said "I'm not okay" before grabbing two red fire handles which would have shut down the plane's engines.
He later told officials: "Yeah… I pulled both emergency shut off handles because I thought I was dreaming and I just wanna wake up."
According to a federal affidavit, Emerson had allegedly become depressed around six months ago, and claimed it was his first time taking magic mushrooms.
The plane made an emergency landing in Oregon before Emerson was arrested.
In a statement from the District of Oregon Department of Justice, they said: "Emerson attempted to grab and pull two red fire handles that would have activated the plane’s emergency fire suppression system and cut off fuel to its engines.
"After a brief physical struggle with the pilots, Emerson exited the cockpit."
Emerson had allegedly been speaking to the planes two pilots before allegedly trying to shut down the engines.
He told them he had been an employee there for 10 years before throwing his headset across the cockpit, it is alleged.
After reaching for the two red levers, one of the pilots "wrestled" him off before declaring an in-flight emergency and telling flight attendants Emerson was "losing it", it is claimed.
Ken Block’s craziest Top Gear stunts from biker race to drifting as star dies
The two red levers were the fire suppression system which includes a T-shaped handle for each engine.
"If the T-handle is fully deployed, a valve in the wing closes to shut off fuel to the engine. In this case, the quick reaction of our crew to reset the T-handles ensured engine power was not lost," Alaska Airlines said.
The panicked duo then turned off autopilot and changed course for Portland, according to the affidavit.
Once Emerson exited the cockpit, he was spotted "peacefully walking to the back of the aircraft" and told one flight attendant he "just got kicked out of the flight deck", it is alleged.
According to the court documents, he then said: "You need to cuff me right now or it's going to be bad."
Flight attendants allegedly had to place restrain Emerson's wrists and seat him in the rear of the aircraft.
He then reportedly tried to grab the handle of an emergency exit and a flight attendant stopped him by placing her hands on top of his.
One of the attendants also claimed he made statements including "I messed everything up", and "he tried to kill everybody".
In an interview with cops, Emerson said he believed he was having a "nervous breakdown" and had not slept in 40 hours.
Emerson denied taking any medication but admitted to cops he had been using psychedelic mushrooms for the first time.
The captain allegedly told ground control at the time of the incident: "We've got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit.
"He doesn't sound like he's causing any issue in the back right now, and I think he's subdued.
"Other than that, yeah, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked."
There were 80 passengers including children along with four crew members on board the plane at the time.
Alaska Airlines said it had "reported a credible security threat related to an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot... who was traveling in the flight deck jump seat".
"Captain Emerson unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines," it said.
"All passengers on board were able to complete their journey with a new crew and aircraft."
