I don't know! He was killed in the crash. The man has been identified as Richard Russell, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation confirmed to CNN on Saturday night. In a final video project set to cheery music, Russell included selfies from airport . Air traffic control became suspicious of Mr Russell after he cut in the line for takeoff. 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. Airports nationwide will now look at whether their security procedures need to change, CNN safety analyst David Soucie said. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. In a final video project set to cheery music, Russell included selfies from airport grounds and photos from his many trips. / CBS/AP. The tower alerted the Portland Air National Guard base, which dispatched a group of US Air Force F-15s to intercept the rouge aircraft. "He was getting really stressed about the financial situation he was in. "Oh man. It's gonna be crazy," Mr Russel said. [deleted] 5 yr. ago. In a humorous YouTube video he posted last year, he talked about his job and included videos and photos of his various travels. Im coming home! But it was not to be. About to take off. By Jeff Wise Published: Aug 13, 2018 JASON REDMOND // Getty Images "My husband and I are recently former Boeing employees, and we were wondering why a jet was near the passenger airplane," she said. Russell flew the plane for over an hour before crashing. As a flight controller tried to persuade him to land, he wondered aloud about whether he had enough fuel to make it to the Olympics, talked of the beautiful view, and said he had a lot of people who cared about him, apologizing for what he was doing. "You think if I land this successfully, Alaska will give me a job as a pilot?" No one noticed the plane had disappeared until Mr Russell was in the air. "The greatest threat we have to aviation is the insider threat," said Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent and transportation security expert. "Never really knew it till now," he said. The FBI released the findings of its investigation earlier this week, concluding 28-year-old ramp agent Richard Russell, also known as Bebo, stole the Horizon airplane and intentionally crashed it into the south end of Ketron Island. 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. The black boxes are now being sent to the National Transportation Safety Board for processing. As he flew the stolen 76-seat passenger plane above the Seattle area for nearly an hour on Friday night, Richard B. Russell was asked by an air . Could 3 Particles on a Tie Lead Us to D.B. Worker who stole plane and crashed identified, See stolen plane flying moments before crash, Co-worker of man who stole plane speaks out, Official: Man taxied plane before stealing it, Airline worker's family releases statement, Airline issues statement after Seattle crash, Witness: Thought Air Force was practicing for show. Details of man who sources say stole airplane from Sea-Tac, Officials: Man who stole plane, died in crash not a pilot, Woman faces decades in prison after lying about murder, Do you have an investigative story tip? "Seattle Ground, Horizon Guy. Its the first time that weve had a commercial aircraft stolen off the ramp of an active airport, Steven Armstrong, vice director of operations for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), told Rolling Stone. I don't want to. He had no purpose to be at that plane Friday evening "other than what he did do," Tilden 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 . I've played some video games before, he said. We may earn a commission from links on this page. ", "I've got a lot of people that care about me," the man later said. "Russell had a few unexcused absences, but nothing considered significant.". the moments leading up to an airport worker crashing a stolen airplane, FBI released more information about Russell and the incident, employees and family didn't notice anything wrong, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. strangest, scariest, most bizarre events of 2018. He did not survive the crash. An FBI investigation found Alaska Airlines ramp employee Richard Russell intentionally crashed the aircraft after flying for more than an hour. After Russell talked periodically with air traffic controllers for about an hour, the plane crashed at Ketron Island,officials said. 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. First published on August 11, 2018 / 4:48 PM. "I think I'm going to try to do a barrel roll, and if that goes good I'll go nose down and call it a night," Richard Russell said from the cockpit, according to a recording of his conversation with the controller. F-15s were scrambled out of their base at Portland International Airport to intercept the plane. Video from Friday showed the Horizon Air Q400 doing large loops and other dangerous maneuvers as the sun set on the Puget Sound. Padilla and an a recently hired assistant boarded the plane, taxied it to the runway, took off, and head out over the Atlantic Ocean. 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. Investigators said Richard Russell worked alone when he was working as a ground service agent for the airline, and that he towed the turboprop out a hanger, climbed into the cockpit, and took off. Within minutes of the plane's takeoff, the military scrambled two armed F-15 jets from Oregon to follow it, according to local and airline authorities and two sources with knowledge of the situation. Mr Russell's aerial joyride ultimately ended in a fiery crash on a remote island in Puget Sound. In fact, there have been a number of occurrences in recent decades in which ground personnel made off with aircraft. CNN's Kyung Lah reports.. The fuselage was fragmented and appeared to be upside down, said Debra Eckrote, regional chief for the National Transportation Safety Board. Russell went by "Beebo" on social media. A Warner Bros. Cooper? Richard Russell, 29, can be seen at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport driving a pushback tractor with an Alaska Air turboprop attached. The plane was a Bombardier Q400, a turboprop that seats 76 people, owned by Horizon Air, part of Alaska Airlines. The plane was a Q400, a Bombardier turboprop plane, one of about 40 the airline has in its fleet. One sketch that he posted included a drawing of a Q400 plane, the same kind of plane involved in Friday's crash. The 76-seat Horizon Air turboprop plane took off without authorization at 7:32 p.m. local time Friday, with Russell, who was not a pilot, at the controls, officials said. NTSB to investigate in-flight turbulence that left 1 passenger dead, Pittsburgh woman missing for 31 years found alive in Puerto Rico, stole an airplane from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Investigators work to determine how a man was able to pilot a stolen plane. July 4, 1986. 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. A fter 29-year-old airline employee Richard B. Russell stole a plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Friday night and crashed it into Ketron Island in Puget Sound, questions remain. 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 cockpit on August 10, 2018. They say says this is a complete shock. ", Russell posted collages of photos from his trips around the world, writing that travel was "what keeps me going in the most unfavorable circumstances.". 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. Richard B. Russell reportedly stole a Horizon Air plane for a joyride before crashing and killing himself near Seattle. 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? The FBI will lead the investigation, said Eckrote, the NTSB regional chief. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Jeff Wise is a New York-based science journalist specializing in aviation and psychology. He also told the controller he "wasn't really planning on landing" the aircraft, and he described himself as "just a broken guy.". ", "I've got a lot of people that care about me, and it's going to disappoint them to hear that I did this," Russell says. Colton Harris Moore only got 6 years for stealing a plane and crashing it. An hour and 45 minutes into the flight, Meyer crashed into the English Channel. Now, nearly four years after the event, authorities have released new video footage showing how 28-year-old Russell who went by the nickname "Beebo" got through. 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. On his Facebook page, which had limited public access, he said he was from Wasilla, Alaska; lived in Sumner, Washington; and was married in 2012. The incident, which the FBI's Seattle office did not consider terrorism, raises questions about airport security. Win Tickets to Weezer with Spoon and White Reaper at White River Amphitheater on August 20th! The plane was a Bombardier Q400, a turboprop that seats 76 people, owned by Horizon Air, part of Alaska Airlines. Neither the men nor the plane has ever been seen again. Investigators on Saturday were trying to retrieve the plane's flight data recorder and its cockpit voice recorder. On the other hand, Russell was reported to have been profoundly troubled, whereas Malaysian authorities were unable to find any evidence that Shah suffered from mental illness or was undergoing any kind of stress in his life. Discovery Company. 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. 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. "Most importantly," he said in a voiceover about his job, "I get to visit those I love most. I don't need that much help. video Plane crashes near Seattle airport. Win Your Trip to Our 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards! They said it's not clear whether he had ever taken flight lessons or used flight simulators, or where he gained the skills to take off. 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 . he joked. ", 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. The cause of the crash wasn't immediately known, but the F-15s did not bring the plane down, Eckrote said. The agency said that, had Mr Russell wanted, he could have recovered from the dive. An air traffic controller called him "Rich," and tried to convince him to land the airplane. The Pierce County Medical Examiners Office has confirmed the remains belong to Richard Russell, who took the empty Horizon Air turboprop plane from Sea-Tac Airport. "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. If you miss out on Thursday, no worries! The perpetrator, 29-year-old Richard Russell, was a Horizon Air ground service agent with no piloting experience. Human remains were found in wake of Friday's tragic plane crash. and last updated 2018-08-12 08:56:01-04. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later?