The pilot had a nervous breakdown, tried mushrooms before trying to land the plane

The off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot who tried to shoot down a sister airline’s plane blames the incident on a nervous breakdown and a serious lack of shut eye, and also admits to taking mushrooms.

Joseph D. Emerson he admitted to law enforcement that he tried to shut down the plane’s engines during a “nervous breakdown” in the cockpit, adding that he felt dehydrated and tired and hadn’t slept in 40 hours.

According to the criminal complaint, obtained by TMZ, Emerson told investigators, “I didn’t feel right. It seemed like the pilots weren’t paying attention to what was going on. They didn’t … it didn’t seem. right.”

Emerson managed to pull both emergency shut off handles, explaining… “I thought I was dreaming and I just want to wake up.”

Police say Emerson told them he wasn’t on any medication, but said he had been depressed for about six months … and then the conversation turned to psychedelic mushrooms.

The complaint says Emerson told investigators about his use of magic mushrooms, saying it was his first time taking mushrooms. The complaint does not make clear when or how many mushrooms Emerson ingested, but there is an insinuation that he may have been on mushrooms during the flight.

As we reported, Emerson was arrested and charged with 83 counts of attempted murder over the incident on a flight from Washington to San Francisco.

Now, the feds are charging him with flight crew members and attendants… a charge that carries up to 20 years behind bars.

Remember…the captain and first officer subdued Emerson in the cockpit after he tried to shut down the engines mid-flight.

The riders told cops that before Emerson was about to grab the handles, he said, “I’m not okay.”

The complaint says that after Emerson was subdued, he told a flight attendant, “You have to stab me right now or it’s going to be bad.” Another flight attendant says Emerson stated, “I messed everything up,” and the attendant told investigators, “he tried to kill everybody.”