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By Rob McGreevy
On October 22, 2023, in the middle of a flight from Washington State to San Francisco, Alaska Airlines pilot Joseph Emerson stood up from his seat in the cockpit and yanked two bright red levers meant to shut the engines down.
Luckily for the 83 people on board, the levers did not work. The engines stayed on. But then Emerson made a beeline to the back of the plane, telling a flight attendant, “I don’t understand what’s real, I need you to cuff me.”
Emerson was not working and hadn’t been flying the plane. As a fellow Alaska Airlines pilot, though, he had hitched a ride in the “jump seat,” a spot reserved for off-duty airline staff. He had used that perk to get home from a camping trip with friends.
During that trip, Emerson had taken magic mushrooms. Despite 48 hours passing since he ingested them, he felt as if he was living in an ongoing nightmare – one from which he believed only pulling the levers would wake him up.
The camping trip was an outing to commemorate a friend who had unexpectedly died of a heart attack. Emerson had since been experiencing acute depression and turned to heavy drinking to cope. The decision to take the mushrooms, he told The New York Times, was a last-ditch effort to try and alleviate his pain.
While Emerson had been seeing a therapist, he balked at her recommendation that he seek a psychiatrist and perhaps get himself medicated. He feared that doing so would render him unable to fly – and therefore work.
“Right now, there’s a perception out there that if you raise your hand and say ‘something’s not right’ there’s a very real possibility that you don’t fly again,” he told ABC News in 2024.
A pilot in our audience recently contacted us to share a similar sentiment. We then spoke with other pilots, medical examiners, and mental health advocates to see if they agreed. In today’s deep-dive, we present the picture they painted – and examine whether the rules intended to protect airline passengers are actually putting them all at risk.
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Editor’s Note
Thanks for reading. Pilots and passengers alike, we’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s story. Let us know what you think by replying to this email.
Sharing below a couple of replies to yesterday’s article on Saudi Arabia’s comedy festival.
Lisa wrote:
I moved here from the US earlier this year. Went to the comedy festival a few nights, saw Kevin Hart, among others.
There were plenty of jokes that were a bit off color- trans, lesbian porn, gay, alcohol, sex, etc.
Not many laughs but everyone went home just fine.
The kingdom is ruled by Islamic law. Some of this so-called human rights issues is plain ignorance. In the last 6 years the country has made some changes; women can drive, hijabs or Niqabs are a choice They no longer have to, it’s a religious decision. As a woman here I cover my knees and my shoulders and don’t wear skin tight clothing, that’s all…which honestly it would be nice if the US would bring back some public decency!
Yes breaking the law is punishable by death…but it’s one of the safest countries in the world. Why, because people know there are consequences.
The United States needs to stop trying to America the rest of the world. There is a HUGE expat population here (like 40%~) people come because of how great a country this is with so many opportunities for EVERYONE. (I also believe the latest statistic of women in the workforce is 45%).
Personally, I don’t mind the conservative life, it’s a nice change from the unruly ‘freedom’ the US currently has. I have just as many options here for work as men, I’m not suppressed here and neither are Saudi women. I have zero fear of being out alone at night as a woman, unlike anywhere in the US. Everyone here is very kind and it’s a peaceful place.
Deb said:
As you stated, it an attempt to look at Saudi Arabi in a different light. However, we all know how they limit free speech with Islam as their main religion/way of life. And as we know, it was radical Islamists who organized the 911 attacks on our country. So NO, I would not attend this, let alone ever step foot in this country!
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—Max and Max
