It was empty, parked at a Seattle-Tacoma International Airport cargo and maintenance area for the night after arriving from Victoria, British Columbia, earlier in the day. "It seemed like he was well liked by the other workers. Investigators on Saturday were trying to retrieve the plane's flight data recorder and its cockpit voice recorder. video Plane crashes near Seattle airport. Richard B. Russell reportedly stole a Horizon Air plane for a joyride before crashing and killing himself near Seattle. ", Referring to audio recordings of Russell talking to air traffic control during his hour-long flight, the statement said his "intent was not to harm anyone. Mr Russell was at times jovial at one point he assured SeaTac's tower that he didn't need help controlling the airplane because he had played some video games and questioned if it could do a backflip and was at others melancholic. Investigators "did not identify any information that would suggest the theft of the aircraft was related to wider criminal activity or terrorist ideology," according to a summary of the FBI report. While searching the crash site, investigators also located human remains among the aircraft materials. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. "Never really knew it till now," he said. Newly released CCTV footage shows airport employee Richard Russell stealing an Alaska Airlines plane before fatally crashing it into a Washington island, the New York Post reports . Data from the flight data recorder showed there was a significant sideslip on the airplane during the last minute of the flight, but the airplane appeared to stay in control, according to the FBI report. Win Tickets to Weezer with Spoon and White Reaper at White River Amphitheater on August 20th! Video from 2018 shows final moments of Sea-Tac Airport worker - KOMO After proceeding through the pre-flight checklist and moving the pushback tractor, Mr Russell began rolling the plane toward a runway. He left prison after less than 5 years, on parole. Playing What We Want In Seattle! The Associated Press contributed to this report. "If you're going to access the aircraft you make sure that you check with someone else, and that someone else (will confirm) that you have the right authority to get onto that aircraft.". A blog that appeared to belong to Russell as part of a multimedia content creation class at Washington State University focused on his job on a ground service agent. Family and friends try to reconcile Richard Russell's action with the The FBI will lead the investigation, said Eckrote, the NTSB regional chief. Onlooker John Waldron took video that shows the plane rolling inverted at low altitude, then pulling into a half-loop in a aerobatic high-g maneuver called a split S. Whether through skill or luck, Russell managed to pull the plane out of its rapid descent just above the wave tops. Newly-released videos from the Port of Seattle show the moments leading up to an airport worker crashing a stolen airplane nearly four years ago. We may earn a commission from links on this page. The FBI has recovered the flight data recorder and components of the cockpit voice recorder from the Horizon aircraft that crashed onto Ketron Island Friday night. He eventually climbs inside the cockpit and fires up the engine. Sky King (RE-POST with new footage) || The Day an Airline Employee During an exchange with air traffic controllers, Russell mentioned he had some experience using flight simulator software. I don't know! The body camera and cell phone video shows firefighters climbing through dense brush and fallen trees to get to the crash site on Ketron Island. His 75-minute flight during the golden twilight took him south and west, toward the Olympic Mountains. Richard Russell died in Friday's plane crash. "My husband and I are recently former Boeing employees, and we were wondering why a jet was near the passenger airplane," she said. Weve got the Weekend Ticket Takeover! With its premium plus plan, youll be able to browse flight deals going for up to 90% off in business, premium economy, and economy class. That includes both domestic and international flights. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.. "Russell was known as a quiet guy who read a lot," according to one witness statement. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Just a broken guy, got a few screws loose, I guess. 2018 Horizon Air Q400 incident - Wikipedia What followed was a 73-minute joyride during which Richard Beebo Russell had a surprisingly candid conversation with air-traffic controllers as he pushed the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 twin-engine plane through some daring acrobatic moves. Russell repeatedly says he would do a roll. Its not yet known exactly what pre-existing psychological conditions Russell may have had, but in the course of his conversation with air traffic controllers he expresses racial resentment. "The greatest threat we have to aviation is the insider threat," said Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent and transportation security expert. It was empty, parked at a Seattle-Tacoma International Airport cargo and . Authorities sent fighter jets to escort him, and the controller repeatedly tried to direct him to runways. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. New footage released by the Port of Seattle shows Mr Russell who worked as a baggage handler at the airport preparing the plane for takeoff. Russell took the Q400 from a cargo area at the north end of Sea-Tac Airport on August 10. The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Sunday that Russell had died in the fiery wreckage, but whether the crash was deliberate or accidental was one of several topics remaining for investigators. Newly released video shows the fiery scene firefighters encountered after an airplane stolen from Sea-Tac Airport crashed on Ketron Island. He was immediately killed. New video released Wednesday shows what first responders found after a plane stolen from Sea-Tac Airport crashed on a south Puget Sound island last August. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. The sky thief Richard Russell captivated the audience's attention after the Authorities at the Port of Seattle released an airport surveillance video of plane stealing. Send us an email at investigate@kiro7.com, Multiple western Washington residents indicted in connection to coast-to-coast drug ring, Bank accidentally left unlocked in Fresno, police say, Powerball jackpot winner identified as longtime Boeing employee, Officials: Mother identified as shooter in murder-suicide in Ohio, Court finds Federal Way gun store in contempt of court. "I lift a lot of bags. Did you encounter any technical issues? Scroll down to continue . An FBI investigation found Alaska Airlines ramp employee Richard Russell intentionally crashed the aircraft after flying for more than an hour. Horizon airline employee, 28-year-old Richard 'Bebo' Russell, stole a plane and took off before crashing into remote Pierce County island More Videos Next up in 5 In fact, there have been a number of occurrences in recent decades in which ground personnel made off with aircraft. I don't need that much help. he joked. The plane was a Bombardier Q400, a turboprop that seats 76 people, owned by Horizon Air, part of Alaska Airlines. strangest, scariest, most bizarre events of 2018. Im coming home! But it was not to be. Mr Russell's aerial joyride ultimately ended in a fiery crash on a remote island in Puget Sound. But the friendly tone of a 29-year-old airport worker who stole a commercial plane Friday night, performing acrobatic stunts before a fatal plunge into a thick island forest, belied his desperate actions. "I thought they were practicing for an air show," he said. Cooper? Meyer had recently been passed over for promotion and had been arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. .css-v1xtj3{display:block;font-family:FreightSansW01,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:100;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-v1xtj3:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.1387rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-v1xtj3{line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.18581rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-top:0rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-v1xtj3{font-size:1.23488rem;line-height:1.2;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}A 777 Nearly Plunged Into the Ocean After Takeoff, Sudden FAA Failure Grounds U.S. MH370 captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was a flight-sim enthusiast who is known to have taken a simulated flight path similar to the one authorities believe the plane ultimately took into the southern Indian Ocean. Aug. 12, 2018. He was in the air for about an hour. Russell's family said in a statement that they were stunned and heartbroken. At least 12 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, The Saturday Six: Dental device controversy, scientist's bug find and more, Trump speaks at CPAC after winning straw poll, 3 children killed, 2 others wounded at Texas home, Man charged for alleged involvement in 2 transformer explosions, Nikki Haley slams potential GOP contenders, and Trump and George W. Bush, Duo of 81-year-old women plan to see the world in 80 days, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant to "take some time away" from the team after allegedly brandishing a gun in a club, Alex Murdaugh trial: What to know about the double murder case, Officials say man who stole plane was suicidal. Russell, a Horizon Air ground service agent for three and a half years, was the only person aboard the plane, the Pierce County Sheriff's Department said. The black boxes are now being sent to the National Transportation Safety Board for processing. Horizon's parent company, Alaska Airlines, refused to comment on claims of workers being overworked or underpaid. NORAD scrambled two F-15 to try to shepherd Russell away from populated areas of Seattle, but at 8:46 PM, Russell crashed the plane into an uninhabited part of Ketron Island in Puget Sound. Please enter valid email address to continue. The man has been identified as Richard Russell, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation confirmed to CNN on Saturday night. Later, a controller discusses getting a pilot on the radio to help Russell control the aircraft. Witnesses described the surreal scene after the plane left the airport. Richard "Beebo" Russell, the Horizon Air employee who stole a plane from Sea-Tac Airport on Friday night, performed midair acrobatics over Puget Sound and then crashed into an island, was an. Richard Russell was a suicidal airport ground services worker who stole an airplane from Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle, Washington, and took it on a dramatic unauthorized flight,. What was the richard russell plane crash story all about. The plane didn't require a key, but it did require buttons and switches to be activated in a particular order. "I would like to apologize to each and every one of them. Amazingly, despite the unprecedented nature of this deadly feat, and the fact that it could have easily become a mass casualty event, Russells flight and fatal crash seemed to hardly make a splash in the national news. 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Win Tickets to KISS at Climate Pledge Arena on November 6, 2023. So many bags," he said. Some speculated the plane was stolen as part of an insurance scam, or perhaps taken by terrorists who planned to use it as a flying bomb, but the truth remains unknown. The Surveillance footage obtained by KOMO shows 28-year-old Richard Russell using a tow vehicle to pull a Horizon Air Q400 aircraft onto the tarmac before climbing into the . An hour and 45 minutes into the flight, Meyer crashed into the English Channel. Without communicating to air traffic controllers, he cut off another airplane and then managed to get the plane onto the runway and airborne. "I never thought I would work as a Ground Service Agent (GSA) for an Airlines company," he wrote in a blog post in September 2017. Richard Russell: 'Heartbroken' family of Seattle airline employee - CNN The Associated Press contributed to this report. In a humorous YouTube video he posted last year, he talked about his job and included videos and photos of his travels. According to his Facebook page, which had limited public access, he was from Wasilla, Alaska, and lived in Sumner, Washington, and was married in 2012. The black boxes will hopefully give investigators more clues as they try to figure out why Russell flew the plane into the ground. I don't want to. You did that. The worker performed several aerial stunts in the stolen aircraft before ultimately crashing on Ketron Island. Colton Harris Moore only got 6 years for stealing a plane and crashing it. SeaTac's tower began asking who was piloting the airplane, which culminated in the first of Mr Russell's exchanges with control that day. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Video from a witness on the ground shows the plane at one point pulling up for a loop, putting the aircraft upside-down and then pulling back up just feet above a body of water. Russell took off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 7.32pm on Friday and flew, tailed by F-15 Eagle jets, until the plane crashed at 8.47pm into Ketron Island, located 25 miles. One sketch that he posted included a drawing of a Q400 plane, the same kind of plane involved in Friday's crash. He said he wanted to create projects showing the contrast between his hard work on the ground and his high-flying free time traveling the globe. An FBI investigation found Alaska Airlines ramp employee Richard Russell intentionally crashed the aircraft after flying for more than an hour. An air traffic controller called him "Rich," and tried to convince him to land the airplane. They say says this is a complete shock. Now let's land that airplane safely and don't hurt anybody on the ground," the helping pilot radios. In audio recordings released over the internet, Russell can be heard chatting in an upbeat, enthusiastic tone with the air traffic controllers trying to talk him down. Officials don't believe Russell had a pilot's license, and they don't know how he knew to fly the plane. Having to rely on the ferry system for transport, the first 40 responding firefighters stayed at the scene throughout the night. Ah, dammit. Also see | Cockpit audio from worker who stole empty plane from Sea-Tac Airport. A Warner Bros. Copyright 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. No one noticed the plane had disappeared until Mr Russell was in the air. The Sky Thief Richard Russell Plane Crash Video Gone Viral: What / CBS/AP. Domestic Flights, Airplane Door Rips Open Midflight on Russian Plane, Airport Worker Ingested Into Jet Engine, Dies, The Concorde Disaster, Battle Tanks, and More. The plane eventually crashed on sparsely populated Ketron Island, starting a fire in the woods but injuring no one outside the plane. A Russian Air Force engineer made off with an Antonov An-26 transport plane from Kubinka Air Force Base near Moscow. F-15 fighter jets scrambled to intercept the Q400, which ultimately crashed into Ketron Island, about 30 miles from the airport. Like a lot of bags. "Most importantly," he said in a voiceover about his job, "I get to visit those I love most. "I always felt bad for the guys and gals who handled luggage. Like a lot of bags. He later stole the plane and eventually crashed it into an island in Puget Sound. KIRO 7 News Seattle facebook feed(Opens a new window), KIRO 7 News Seattle twitter feed(Opens a new window), KIRO 7 News Seattle youtube feed(Opens a new window), Who was Richard Russell? By Jeff Wise Published: Aug 13, 2018 JASON REDMOND // Getty Images July 4, 1986. He passed a series of background checks to gain his position, as he didn't have any criminal convictions. "Tower, you need to call and scramble now," one Alaska Air pilot called out. "We heard the jet because our windows were down while we were waiting in the ferry line to go to Anderson Island, which is adjacent to Ketron Island.". SEATTLE -- He cracked jokes, complimented the professional demeanor of an air traffic controller and apologized for making a fuss. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Foote was an experienced glider pilot and had undergone 100 hours of simulator flying in the Skyhawk and had hoped to become a military pilot before his ambitions were derailed by health issues. Ben Charles Padilla, an aircraft mechanic who held a private pilots license and was a certified flight engineer, was repairing a 727 airliner in Luanda, Angola for a Florida-based company named Aerospace Sales and Leasing. FBI recovers flight recorder, Richard Russell's remains from stolen

An airline employee stole an otherwise unoccupied passenger plane Friday from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and flew it for an hour with military jets chasing him before crashing in a wooded area 40 miles away.

. In the footage, Mr Russell can be seen calmly moving through the airport wearing a black shirt. The agency said that, had Mr Russell wanted, he could have recovered from the dive. He said flying was a "blast" and that he didn't need much help: "I've played some video games before.". The family of a man who authorities saystole an airplane from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and later crashed it called him a faithful husband, loving son and good friend. All Rights Reserved. Horizon airline employee, 28-year-old Richard 'Bebo' Russell, stole a plane and took off before crashing into remote Pierce County island Richard Russell: Details emerge of a 'compassionate' man after Seattle plane heist and fiery crash By Alex Horton August 13, 2018 at 8:01 a.m. EDT A Horizon Air employee described as. The Seattle FBI office said Sunday that it had recovered the flight data recorder and components of the cockpit voice recorder from the Horizon plane. The agency says the 28-year-old's loved ones hosted an intervention for him, who "seemed fine" besides increased drinking. Despite the timing of the crash during prime fire season, the fires in the video seemed to be small and scattered. Earlier in the flight, Russell says: "This is probably, like, jail time for life, huh? Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. "Nah, I mean, I don't need that much help. I was kinda hoping that was going to be it. Siddiq Saunderson Moved to L.A. and Immediately Bought a Prius, Millennials and Zillennials Can't Get Enough of Manual Transmissions, Dollar Flight Club Premium Plus (Lifetime Subscription), Tesla Investor Day 2023 Was Pretty Great if You Ignored Elon.