Flight instructors puzzled how man got stolen plane off the ground

No one else was hurt in the crash.

Mike Mathews reads a statement on behalf of the family of Rich Russell, the man who stole a plane from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and crashed it on an island on Friday, Aug. 10, 2018.

Federal Bureau of Investigation said it does not consider the incident terror-related as authorities try to piece together how a security scare of that magnitude occurred at major airport.

Alaska Airlines chief executive Brad Tilden said the airline was giving authorities its full support and cooperation in working to find out what happened.

“My husband and I are recently former Boeing employees, and we were wondering why a jet was near the passenger airplane”, she said. And he added that it is complicated to know how to retract the steps and landing gear, to move the plane to the right runway, and to take off.

Sea-Tac Airport spokesman Perry Cooper said workers are “red-lighted” and denied access to airport areas they don’t frequent.

Wasilla wrestling coach Shawn Hayes said Russell was respectful and a good kid. After 9/11, the main fear in the port world was somebody taking private jets, that don’t have a flight plan, from smaller airports such as Boeing Field.

Some aircraft were scrambled from the air force base.

“We secure the airfield and then we have employees that are credentialed and authorised to be there”.

Russell eventually plunged the aircraft into woods on sparsely inhabited Kentron Island, 25 miles south of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Investigators expect they will be able to recover both the cockpit voice recorder and the event data recorder from the plane.

Commissioner Courtney Gregoire said the employee had a security badge, and that all employees are subject to background checks.

However, aviation security consultant Jeff Price told the newspaper any changes could have a big impact on the day-to-day running of an airport. “There was no indication this person flying the plane was trying to damage anything”, he said. And part of his job was to drive the tractor that backed the aircraft into position for takeoff.

Prof Bamber, who has also written a book into the aviation industry Up in the Air, said the mental health of workers was a hard area for employers as it was hard to effectively screen for.

Glen Winn, another industry security consultant, agreed that while there is a lot left to learn about the incident, it’s possible the end of a review will result in few if any policy changes.

Others said it was wrong to glorify him for an act that could have killed more people.

The Los Angeles Times reports that during the unauthorized flight, Russell talked with air-traffic controllers who pleaded with him to land the plane, according to officials and dispatch audio. The Seattle FBI office is looking into the criminal side of the accident and has cautioned that it could take some time to unravel all the details; however, the local sheriff’s office has already ruled out any connection to terrorism, saying it was an apparent suicide. “He decided on course of action number two”.

He said the broad availability of simulators – as with so many other technologies that have proliferated in recent years – is a two-way street.

Air traffic controller: “And you can see all the terrain around you? You’ve got no issue with visibility or anything?” “I’ve played some video games before”, Russell responds.

Colleagues remembered Mr Russell, who was nicknamed “Beebo” as “quiet” and “very friendly”. “I think I got some gas to go check out the Olympics”.