He stole a 76-seat Bombardier Q400 from Seattle-Tacoma Airport. Two NORAD F-15s scrambled from Portland. He was in contact with Air Traffic Control, apologized to his family. Said he was unwilling to land at a military base because "they would rough me up". Directed out over the Pacific by the fighters, crashed on an uninhabited island in Puget Sound.
A witness claimed he did a loop-de-loop but I didn't see it in his video.
I am completely convinced that suicidal depression can always be cured.
He had all the proper security credentials. He had been working his shift and was believed to still be in uniform. The baggage handler didn't seem out of place at all — until he was taxiing down the runway and taking off in a stolen passenger plane.
Media outlets identified him as Richard Russell, a 27-year-old who sparked a combination of amazement and fear as he flew — alone — a 76-seat Horizon Air Q400 plane for more than an hour before it crashed on a wooded area on Ketron Island south of Seattle.
He did a barrel roll. A daring swoop. Officials said they didn't believe he even had a pilot's license. "Incredible," Horizon Air President and Chief Executive Gary Beck said Saturday.
But investigators are still trying to understand why he decided to take the plane for a what appeared to be joy ride Friday evening from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The act also reignited discussions about airport and aviation security, with Alaska Airlines Chairman and CEO Brad Tilden repeating several times Saturday that passenger and employee safety was — and is — the company's primary concern.
Also at CNN.
(Score: 2, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Sunday August 12 2018, @04:56PM (3 children)
Remember 9-11, the HORRIBLE 9-11 attacks? Many people are saying, maybe those planes were drones. Maybe there was nobody on those planes. No pilots, no passengers. Saying, our Deep State rigged the autopilot. Pennsylvania, where are the bodies? No bodies! Pentagon, was that one even a plane? They looked at the video, it looks like a Cruise Missile. Not a plane!!!!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday August 12 2018, @11:51PM (1 child)
I was in the Air Force when the 9/11 attacks happened. One of my buddies was on TDY to the Pentagon because they needed somebody who could translate a certain language. When he came back, he let us all know that he and others were "off" that Tuesday even though admin staff is a M-F, 9-5 job.
Very peculiar, indeed.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday August 13 2018, @07:59PM
G_d intervened!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 13 2018, @08:58AM
The pentagon wasn't a plane, it was an overloaded Marine helicopter.