An off-duty Alaska Airlines Pilot who tried to cut the engines on a regional jet mid-flight on Sunday told police after his arrest that he believed he was having a nervous breakdown, thought he was dreaming when he pulled fire handles in the cockpit, and that he had experimented with psychedelic mushrooms recently as his mental health worsened, according to a federal complaint made public on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear from the court document if 44-year-old Joseph David Emerson was high on mushrooms when he was on the plane, but an FBI agent wrote in a probable cause affidavit that the pilot spoke with police about the use of psychedelic mushrooms and “said it was his first time taking mushrooms”. Emerson, of Pleasant Hill, California, was initially arrested in Oregon on Sunday night on state counts of attempted murder after the flight crew reported that he attempted to shut down the engines on a flight from Washington state to California while riding in the extra seat in the cockpit. The plane was diverted …

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