Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty
48 hours before off-duty pilot Joseph Emerson attempted to cut the engines of a plane on its way to San Francisco from Everett, Washington, he had eaten magic mushrooms, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors. The airplane’s pilots and cabin crew restrained Emerson to prevent him from activating the emergency fire suppression system, which cuts fuel to the engines. He later told investigators that he had a history of depression, hadn’t slept in 40 hours, and had taken the psychoactive drug two days before the flight. The complaint adds that Emerson said, “I’m not OK.”
“I thought it would stop both engines, the plane would start to head towards a crash, and I would wake up,” he later told The New York Times.
While investigators haven’t said if Emerson, who is now charged with 83 counts of attempted murder, was using psilocybin in an attempt to treat his depression, the incident underscores a concern long expressed by a growing minority in and around the psychedelic community: the dangers of overhyping the potential of psychedelics.