Family Left Heartbroken After Airline Worker Steals and Crashes Plane. The perpetrator, 29-year-old Richard Russell, was a Horizon Air ground service agent with no piloting experience. Perhaps the least we should do in the wake of such tragedies is to reflect upon the words attributed to Philo of Alexandria: Be kind, for everyone you meet is in the midst of a great struggle.. Someone plucked a bag off a conveyor belt. Knowing what you value will help you build the most meaningful life possible. A 2012 article in the World described how Russell met his wife. On Facebook, his favorite quotes were religious in nature, including, God IS Love and No Guilt in Life, No Fear in Death, this is the Power of Christ in Me, and a non religious line, This is America.. Unclear if passengers are on board. They wont let anyone leave the airport while hes up there. After taking off, an air traffic controller said, He needs some help controlling his aircraft. Russell responded: Nah, I mean, I dont need that much help. [12] His flight pattern was also shared online, with Twitter[13] user @RMaons writing, "SKY KING 2.0 ON FLIGHT RADAR, AIRCRAFT IS CALLED KING AIR LOOOL" (shown below, right). In another moment, Russell said he was lightheaded and talked about adjusting the cabin pressure, but it was not clear whether he was able to do that. We believe there are no passengers on board. A pair of F-15C jets were scrambled in response to Russells flight before he crashed one hour and 15 minutes after takeoff. The incident led to a dramatic and tragic night on August 10, 2018, as aircraft were grounded at Sea-Tac while fighter jets followed the man and air traffic controllers tried unsuccessfully to help him land the aircraft. . Sea-Tac Airport (@SeaTacAirport) August 11, 2018. On July 2, 1982, a 33-year-old truck driver named Larry Walters took flight in a patio chair attached to more than 40 helium-filled weather balloons. 2007-2023 Residents of the island bore some of the cost for cleaning up, and negotiations were initiated for their reimbursement by Alaska Airlines' insurers. He somehow managed to execute a barrel roll and a few other aerobatic maneuvers before crashing the aircraft onto a sparsely populated island, killing only himself. Its gonna be crazy, he tells traffic control, according to the video provided to local Seattle news outlet KOIN. Glenn Sullivan, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at the Virginia Military Institute and a clinical psychologist in private practice in Lexington, Virginia. Monteith stated the men told him they were training to use the aircraft's auxiliary power unit so they could tow it, but said it was "suspicious" that they left when he confronted them. Audio from the SeaTac tower reported that aircraft were lined up on the tarmac at one point. [Im] just a broken guy, got a few screws loose, I guess. In 1993, Lawnchair Larry Walters was named an At-Risk Survivor in the annual Darwin Awards. My logo draft will be a generic suit case with minimalistic travel stickers, encircled by the text: Russell Hustle. Other video shows him clocking in to work. Essential reporting and analysis from correspondents around the world. The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long, another said. Men in the UK, aged 20 to 49, are more likely to die from . They opened a bakery and ran it for three years before selling it in 2015 to be closer to Hannahs family. Never really knew it, until now, Richard Russell said at one point. Newly released CCTV footage captures the harrowing moment a Washington state airport employee stole an Alaska Airlines plane and took it for a joyride before fatally crashing it. The man who stole a commercial aeroplane in Seattle, and took his life by crashing it, has become a folk hero to neo-Nazi groups and incels, drafted into a poisonous delusion that is becoming mainstream. KINGs Madison Wade reports. Just a broken guy, got a few screws loose I guess. I sure married a nice pair of calves! she joked with a photo of the couple. Video related to richard russell, rich: 5 fast facts you need to know, Click to subscribe! The video was widely circulated online and by major news publications (shown below). This dives into the psychology and reason of why he Hi-jacked a plane and then crashed into his death. 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, where it was chased by fighter planes as he attempted stunts in the air before the plane crashed. Goodbye" (shown below, left). Saw two fighter jets fly overhead then smoke pic.twitter.com/w0bveGUJQH, McKenna Brown (@mckenna_brown) August 11, 2018, A man named Ben Schaechter wrote on Twitter, Halfway down the runway on Alaska airlines out of Seattle and the pilot slams on the brakes and shares we must go back to the gate. Russell, a ground services worker for Horizon Air, was permitted to get very close to passenger aircraft. I feel really bad for Richard and for his family. There is the runway just about a mile off your right side, do you see that? First, it would provide a simple explanation that makes the incomprehensible seem comprehensible. However, late in the evening of August 10, 2018, tower audio indicated that some planes were being released. So I dont know how he achieved the experience that he did.. The statement, he added, was the only one that will be released. In this season of life we enjoy exploring as much as possible, whether its a day (or so) trip to one of Alaska Airlines destinations, or visiting a new area of Washington, Russell wrote about himself and his wife online. I was born in Key West, Florida, and moved to Wasilla, Alaska when I was 7. This is not a terrorist incident. We are working back ground on him now, the Pierce County Sheriff wrote. The man, known as Rich in air traffic control audio and dubbed the sky king on Twitter, broke hearts on social media as people followed the unauthorized flight before it came to a fatal end. We had a ground stop for quite a while here, a dispatcher says. You went out the way most of us dream, one user wrote. In a video he posted for a college class in December, Russell joked about the sometimes mundane duties of his job. An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers at Sea-Tac; aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound. Well chalk it up to that. RIP to the SkyKing. Live aviation audio from the tower said, at one point, that dispatchers were urging Rich Russell to try to land that airplane safely and not hurt anybody while dealing with a snarl of stalled planes on the ground. Then he took an Alaska Airlines plane. "Sky King" is a nickname given to 29-year-old ground service operator Richard Russell after he stole a Horizon Air Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 airliner from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) and died after crashing on Ketron Island in Puget Sound. ?, One woman wrote on Twitter, he has stolen a big Horizon turbo prop. He has buzzed Mt Rainer and the Seattle area. Russell flew the plane around Seattle for an hour while National, New Video Shows Man Stealing Horizon Air Plane In 2018 Incident, Newly-obtained surveillance video from 2018 shows how Richard Russell, then a Horizon Ground service agent with no pilot experience, successfully stole the plane before crashing to his death. Richard Russell, 29, hijacked a 76-seater plane from Seattle-Tacoma on Friday. [39] He was an avid traveler and attended Washington State University Global Campus, majoring in social science. Well chalk it up to that. We consider ourselves bakery connoisseurs and have to try a new one every place we go. His website is filled with photos and videos of his travels and was previously linked to his Instagram account. I met my husband when a friend sent him over to my house to cure my hiccoughs.
Richard Russell: Man who stole SeaTac plane was warm and compassionate [18] After the incident, Joel Monteith, a pilot for SkyWest Airlines, relayed to an emergency dispatcher that in 2017, he saw Russell and another man "pointing and flipping switches" in the cockpit of a SkyWest aircraft parked at SeaTac Airport. Richard Russell, a ground control agent, died after he stole the plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in August 2018 and drove it into the ground of a remote island in the Puget Sound . Authorities described him as suicidal.. Richard Russell, AKA Rich, the man who took the Sea-Tac plane and crashed it. At another point, he says he's going to try to "do a barrel roll." New footage has been released from a 2018 incident in which an airline ground service agent named Richard Russell stole a turboprop plane from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and crashed it into an island in the Puget Sound. I hope it doesnt ruin your day. Up until then, he had seemed torn between life and death, at least considering the possibility of attempting a landing or ditching the aircraft in the sea. Acted alone he is 29 year old Pierce county residence. Russell, who was a ground service employee for Horizon Air and did not have a pilots license, took the twin-engine turboprop plane from a maintenance area where it was parked at the airport. Nah, I'm a white guy. (shown below). Known as Beebo to family and friends, Russell was in his youth a gregarious, outgoing star athlete at Wasilla High School in Alaska, according to The Anchorage Daily News, running track and wrestling. The incident led to a dramatic and tragic night on August 10, 2018, as aircraft were grounded at Sea-Tac while fighter jets followed the man and air traffic controllers tried unsuccessfully to help him land the aircraft. Its not clear whether Russell, 29, had ever really flown a plane before. He left no children. Meanwhile, various tributes to Russell were uploaded to YouTube (shown below). The cockpit recordings are widely available online and it would be hard not to feel compassion while listening to them. Why did I do it? I suspect that most of the time they want to hear some kind of post-mortem diagnosis: He was a paranoid schizophrenic. Audio from the SeaTac tower reported that aircraft were lined up on the tarmac at one point. And in recordings of conversations with air traffic controllers, Russell joked and laughed, though he was at times contemplative and raw. On September 3rd, CNN reported that an airport worker named Cory Wayne Patterson had stolen a twin-engine plane from Tupelo Aviation and was threatening to crash it into a Mississippi Walmart. Patterson did not end up flying the plane into Walmart, instead landing in a field where he was arrested. This is a complete shock to us. Authorities said they dont think he had a pilots license and arent sure how he was able to take off, much less perform complicated tricks in the air like a barrel roll. At one point, Russell told a controller he had played a lot of video games. [20] They married in 2012. We are devastated by these events and Jesus is truly the only one holding this family together right now. pic.twitter.com/5z4BYRBrcU, Kierra Elfalan (@KierraElfalanTV) August 12, 2018. Thanks for contacting us. Location of SeattleTacoma International Airport (north) and Ketron Island (south) within northwestern Washington state. You seemed like a nice guy and a hell of a natural pilot., Seattle hijackers plane heist, midair stunts and fiery crash expose gaps in aviation security. She foiled their plans. We consider ourselves bakery connoisseurs and have to try a new one every place we go. ", Currently we have a 29yr old who stole this plane & is threatening to crash it into something. Oh- theyve probably got anti-aircraftnot quite ready to bring it down just yet. Once I earn my Bachelors in Social Sciences I will either seek a management position where Im at now, or possibly join the military as an officer. You can watch the video above. [15] He said he was a "broken guy, got a few screws loose I guess. He sounds just like anyone else would if they suddenly found themselves in a similar situation. She posted a series of selfies showing the couple on various adventures. On October 6, 1993, now aged 44, he hiked into the Angeles National Forest and died by self-inflicted gunshot. It seemed like he was well liked by the other workers. [4][13] A KC-135R Stratotanker refueling tanker was also scrambled from Fairchild Air Force Base to support the F-15 flight. | Lee Goldberg. Richard Russell had a website that appeared to have been for a college communications class. They turned him into a hero with the name, and with it came a lot of memes. The story, despite seeming near-mythic, is true. Keep the aircraft nice and low, the tower responded to the man at one point, advising him to keep it over the water. steal a Horizon Air Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 airliner. Im going to disappoint them to hear that I did this. ", "Plane Thief Said He Trained on Games, Didn't Plan to Land", "NORAD: Fighter jets were trying to direct stolen plane over Pacific Ocean when it crashed", "Towboat crew dropped everything to respond to Ketron Island crash", "Firefighters battle more than flames after Ketron Island plane crash", "Seattle plane crash: 'heartbroken' family remember gentle man who meant no harm", "Ketron Island residents grateful Horizon Air plane didn't crash into homes", "Thanks to everyone for sharing accurate information, insuring the public's safety. Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden said at a news conference Saturday that Russell worked for Horizon Air for four years and was on the clock and in uniform when he stole the twin-engine turboprop plane, which was parked in a cargo lot at the time. Its gonna be crazy, he said at one point in air traffic control transmissions. He was manic-depressive. I just want you to whisper sweet nothings into my ear, said Rich, who claimed he could fly the plane because he played video games. Full video form John Waldron on Facebook being shown on CNN #seatac pic.twitter.com/R98bl5uQBr. I'm listening through the archive of the radio chatter on the #seatac hijacking. Ive got a lot of people that care about me. What happened from then, left a. Hey all! Im praying for #Rich tonightnot just the guy who stole a plane from #SeaTac, but every guy like Rich who (it seemsbut Ill admit Im assuming a lot here) is suffering and cannot find a better way out. Russell said on the aviation audio, This is probably jail time for life, huh? in correct chronological orderthis took pIace over about 75 minutes.
Newly Released Footage Shows Richard Russell Steal Plane - Breitbart All Rights Reserved. Male is confirmed a suicidal male. . Monteith also recalled that Russell had been in the cockpit of an Embraer 175 with him, and that Russell asked him about his "flows, which is the preflight preparation I do for takeoff. The incident aircraft was a Bombardier Q400, owned by Horizon Air (and operating for Alaska Airlines) with the registration N449QX[2][3][4] and serial number 4410. (@luketadams) August 11, 2018. Listening to the audio recordings, I feel nothing but sadness for Rich, for the man who stole that plane at #SeaTac and committed suicide. In a final video that he posted to YouTube, Rich Russell showed an active life full of travel and adventure. When I arrived, he was in the kitchen, in the middle of his Sunday morning ritual of cleaning his cleaning supplies. Airport (@flySEA) August 11, 2018. ? wrote one woman on Twitter, echoing the comments of many people who heard the audio. #iflyalaska #akedchat.. Disclaimer: I am in no way proficient in the arts.. #SeaTac @king5 #ketron #dupont #andersonisland pic.twitter.com/78LC5PXKhU, Katreichel (@Katreichelart) August 11, 2018, The Sheriffs Department also wrote: Told F 15s made it within a few minutes of theft of plane. by Since his famous flight, he had spent a lot of time hiking, reading the Bible, and volunteering with the Forest Service. The hardest part of stealing a commercial plane from an international airport was already over for Richard Russell. I think Im gonna try to do a barrel roll, and if that goes good, Im just gonna nose down and call it a night., Hannah Russell: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. Literally Media Ltd. It was recovered along with the cockpit voice recorder, authorities said Sunday, amid a streak of disintegrated debris. Russell is then seen walking into a restricted area meant for baggage handlers, getting onto a tarmac tow vehicle, and dragging the plane he was set to steal onto the runway. He gradually drifted into controlled airspace near Los Angeles International Airport, causing some alarm both to the authorities and to the pilots of at least two commercial jets. You can listen to more archived aviation audio on the incident here, some of which captures the mans voice: The site Airline Geeks.com reported, Reports saying that two F-15s have intercepted an Alaska Air Q400, operated by Horizon Air., The Twitter page Royal S. King wrote, On a lake in Tacoma and 2 F-15 have intercepted at @AlaskaAir Q400 south of @SeaTacAirport. Another man wrote, @flytruenorth Are you following this story? The fire burned a 2-acre (0.8ha) area,[23] but was extinguished by the following morning. Buy "Richard "SkyKing" Russell" by BogTron as a Sticker. These statements should probably be considered the emotional projections of similarly disaffected people. Two F-15 fighter planes were scrambled to follow Rich, who eventually crashed into a wooded area a little over an hour after takeoff, killing only himself. [41] They sold the bakery in 2015 so his wife could be closer to her family; they settled in Sumner, Washington, and Russell found employment with Horizon Air.
A former coworker, Rick Christenson, told The Seattle Times: He was a quiet guy. The couple settled in Sumner, Wa., where Russell got a job at Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, so he could easily fly back to Alaska to see his own family. He was very, very friendly automatically willing to bring everyone in, Hannah Holmes, who also participates in Young Life, told The Seattle Times. Then, it segues into a montage of photos from Russells trips to Alaska, France, Ireland, and other places before ending with a scene from a family gathering. This article was published more than4 years ago. Together, they started a bakery in North Bend, Oregon. Although he didnt have a pilots license, Russell knew how to work the plane from his experience as an airport employee, the FBI previously said. The equipment was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board for processing. Hearing Mr. Russell speak during his final hour is an emotional experience. | Second, psychiatric diagnosis also suggests simple solutions to complex problems: If he did it because he was mentally ill, we need more widely available mental health services.. Maybe that will grease the gears a little bit with the higher-ups, he said at another point. Russell was active in his local community, serving as a leader at Young Life, a Christian youth ministry. An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers at Sea-Tac; aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound.
Who Is Richard Russell's Wife? Meet Hannah Russell And Family Yeah I dont know what the burnageis like on a takeoff but yeah. [19] Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden announced on the same day that the airline was coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration, the FBI, and the National Transportation Safety Board, and was "working to find out everything we possibly can about what happened". Defying attacks, arts return to Somalia with first TV drama in 30 years, Divorced and remarried, these Afghan women are outlaws under Taliban rule. But he mentioned video games during his recorded conversation with air traffic control, which some have taken as a reference to flight simulator software. Although official accounts other than through live aviation audio were hard to come by at first, many passengers took to social media to report that pilots were telling them a man had stolen a plane. He hoped perhaps to commission in the military after graduation. Ive got a lot of people that care about me.
Richard "SkyKing" Russell Sticker by BogTron - Redbubble Its not clear how he pulled off the intense maneuvers captured on video. Just kind of soaring around, he told air traffic control. On behalf of the family, we are stunned and heartbroken. Would love your thoughts, please comment. More information as we learn more, Alaska Airlines wrote on Twitter around 9:20 p.m. on the west coast.
Richard Russell Plane Crash Video From Seattle | Heavy.com Sadly, he did not survive much longer at all. The perpetrator, 29-year-old Richard Russell, was a Horizon Air ground service agent with no piloting experience.