Charges: Mushrooms, 'breakdown' sparked midair incident on Everett flight

EVERETT — The off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shut off the engines on a Horizon Air flight from Everett told investigators he was “in crisis” after taking psychedelic mushrooms and not sleeping in almost two days, according to charges filed Tuesday in federal court.

Joseph David Emerson, 44, was charged in federal court in Oregon in connection with the midair incident on Horizon flight 2059, which took off about 5:25 p.m. Sunday from Seattle Paine Field International Airport bound for San Francisco.

After he was taken into custody, Emerson told Port of Portland police that he had consumed “magic mushrooms approximately 48 hours before the incident on the plane,” according to separate charges filed in Oregon courts by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

Emerson later told FBI investigators he believed he was having a “nervous breakdown,” that he had not slept in 40 hours, and that he felt dehydrated.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/charges-mushrooms-breakdown-sparked-midair-incident-on-everett-flight/

Aren't pilots supposed to be drug free and periodically checked? I know commercial truck drivers are.