Alaska Airlines Pilot Who Used Mushrooms Indicted, but Not for Attempted Murder

The News

A pilot accused of trying to crash an Alaska Airlines jetliner in Oregon will no longer face charges of attempted murder. A grand jury voted instead to indict the pilot, Joseph Emerson, on a felony charge of endangering an aircraft and 83 misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment, officials said on Tuesday.

Background: The pilot says he was in a dreamlike state.

Mr. Emerson was off duty during the flight, and was riding in the cockpit jump seat. Eighty-three other passengers and crew members were on board, and he was initially arrested on charges of attempted murder for each of them. The indictment supersedes those charges.

In an interview with The New York Times last month at the jail where he was being held, Mr. Emerson said he had never intended to hurt anyone. He said he had been struggling to discern reality after consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms, which he had done for the first time two days earlier. Text messages showed his eagerness to get home to his family, and he described being overcome with the conviction that his time in the cockpit was not real.

Mr. Emerson acknowledged that in trying to wake himself from what he believed was a dream, he reached up in the cockpit and pulled on the plane’s two fire-suppression handles, which are designed to shut down both engines in an emergency. The pilots managed to pull his hands away from the handles, and Mr. Emerson left the cockpit.

The flight from Everett, Wash., to San Francisco was diverted to Portland, Ore., where Mr. Emerson was arrested.

Why It Matters: The case spotlights pilots’ mental health.

Pilots have spoken for years about how strict federal rules surrounding their mental health had made them fearful of both consulting with doctors about mental issues and using medication. Pilots who take even standard antidepressants are barred from flying for months, and winning back their privileges afterward can take a long time.

Mr. Emerson said that despite the encouragement of a therapist, he had declined to pursue a depression diagnosis or seek antidepressants after the death of his best friend several years ago. He said that when he ate the mushrooms during a gathering to honor that friend, he was consumed by past trauma, dating from his childhood through adulthood.

In the aftermath of the cockpit episode, the F.A.A. said it was establishing a committee to look at ways to encourage pilots to be more candid about mental health issues.

What Happens Next: A possible release from jail.

Mr. Emerson’s lawyers said on Tuesday that they expected him to be released and returned home to his family this week. They expressed disappointment about the charges that the grand jury decided to pursue, and said that they looked forward to bringing all the facts and circumstances of the case to a trial jury.