Former Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to kill plane engines says he wants to fly again

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The former pilot who attempted to turn off the engines of a passenger airplane mid-flight hopes he can one day fly again.

Joseph Emerson, 44, discussed the tragic lapse in reason that ruined his career, the emotional impact it had on his family and his outlook on the future in his most in-depth interview since the incident.

«It's 30 seconds of my life that I wish I could change, and I can’t,» he told ABC News in an interview published Friday.

PILOT ACCUSED OF TRYING TO CRASH PLANE SAYS HE WAS TRYING TO WAKE UP FROM DREAM

Former pilot Joseph David Emerson offered insight into the nightmarish hallucinatory episode that ruined his flying career during his first long-form interview since his arrest in late 2023. (Joseph Emerson/Facebook / Fox News)

Emerson was riding in the jump seat of Horizon Air Flight 2059, an Alaska Airlines affiliate, when he allegedly tried to pull two handles that would have engaged a fire-suppression system and cut fuel to the engines. 

The then-pilot had taken psychedelic mushrooms the week before the incident during a weekend trip with buddies in remembrance of their deceased friend.

The psychedelic effects of the mushrooms typically last a few hours, but Emerson claims he suffered lingering side effects for days.

The plane had been traveling from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on Oct. 22, when Emerson began to lose touch with reality and began thinking he was «trapped» on an «imaginary» plane.

331 SWISS INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS GET STRANDED 20 HOURS IN KAZAKHSTAN AFTER PLANE GOES OFF RUNWAY

Joseph David Emerson was accused of attempting to disable the engines of a plane on which he was riding while off-duty last year — a manic episode he