Recently released cockpit audio has shed light on a harrowing incident that took place over two years ago on board an Alaska Airlines flight en route to San Francisco. The recording captures the tense moments when an off-duty pilot attempted to shut down the plane’s engines mid-flight.

In October 2023, a routine journey transformed into a chaotic ordeal as the unsettling audio reveals. The cockpit was filled with exclamations and expletives, underscoring the sudden panic that gripped the crew.

Amidst the turmoil, a voice can be heard urgently announcing the need for an emergency landing, marking a critical turning point in the flight’s trajectory.

Horizon Flight 2059 was traveling from Everett, Washington, toward the Bay Area when Joseph Emerson, an off-duty pilot confined to handcuffs and seated in the jumpseat, made a dangerous move. He reached for the fire suppression handles, which, if activated, would have cut off the fuel supply to both engines, potentially leading to disaster.

Thanks to the quick actions of the flight crew, Emerson was stopped in his tracks, and the aircraft was promptly diverted to Portland, ensuring the safety of all on board.

Once he was in handcuffs on the tarmac, video from inside the police vehicle showed Emerson telling an officer that he was “having a nervous breakdown.”

“I don’t really know why,” he added.

“So were you trying to kill yourself?” an officer asked Emerson.

He responds: “I was trying to wake up… I didn’t feel like it’s real.”

“So when did you finally notice that this was real,” the officer asked Emerson.

After a pause, he responds: “When I saw the look on people’s faces when I came, when you guys brought me out here.”

Investigators say Emerseon had taken psychedelic mushrooms two days prior to the incident and hadn’t slept in 48 hours.

“There was a feeling of being trapped, like am I trapped in this airplane? This is not real, I need to wake up,” he said in an interview after the incident.

Last month, a federal judge sentenced Emerson to time served. The judge also called the case a “cautionary tale.”

Emerson has paid $60,000 in restitution and has also apologized to the crew that was on board that day and thanked them for saving the flight.

Meanwhile, Emerson is working to become a substance abuse counselor and goes to daily recovery meetings. He and his wife have started a non-profit for pilots struggling with mental health issues.