06 dec 2023 om 09:28
The American pilot who tried to crash a plane in October and was subsequently suspected of 83 murder attempts will not be prosecuted. Joseph Emerson previously said he had taken magic mushrooms two days before the flight and wanted to come out of a hallucination.
The jury acquitted the 44-year-old pilot of the suspicions on Tuesday, writes The New York Times. Emerson is still suspected of endangering an aircraft and 83 people. He will be arraigned on those charges on Thursday. According to the American newspaper, there is a good chance that he will be allowed to await the trial in freedom.
Emerson flew in the cockpit as an Alaska Airlines passenger in October. The aircraft was en route from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco.
He tried to crash the plane by pulling the emergency levers during flight. “I thought it would stop both engines, the plane would crash and I would wake up,” he previously said.
The flight crew managed to prevent a crash. After an emergency landing, Emerson was handcuffed.
Pilot had taken mushrooms two days before flight
The pilot said he had taken psychedelic mushrooms two days before the flight. He was away for a weekend with friends to commemorate the death of his best friend.
The pilot stated according The New York Times that at the time of the flight he had not slept for forty hours and had been depressed for about six months. Emerson said that he did not deal well with his psychological problems for fear of losing his pilot’s license.
According to his lawyer, the attempted murder charge was inappropriate. “He never intended to hurt anyone or endanger anyone,” the attorney countered CNN.
The Alaska Airlines plane that was grounded immediately after the incident. Photo: AFP
Beeld: Getty Images
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2023-12-06 08:28:31
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