Local aviation expert weighs in on Seattle plane theft and crash

WordPress Richard Russell in a photo from his personal blog.

“On behalf of the family, we are stunned and heartbroken”. The man, who was believed killed, wasn’t immediately identified. “It is impossible to encompass who he was in a press release”.

“This is a complete shock to us”, Mr Matthews said.

“We are devastated by these events and Jesus is truly the only one holding this family together right now”.

Law enforcement officials have identified him to USA media, Agence France-Presse said.

As the investigation continues, his family asks for space to mourn.

All departures and arrivals were halted at the busy airport for some time but have since resumed.

Video showed the 76-seat aircraft doing large loops and other unsafe maneuvers as the sun was setting.

Authorities said Russell was suicidal.

They said he used a machine called a pushback tractor to first maneuver the aircraft so he could board and then take off Friday evening.

Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden said in a statement early Saturday morning that the airline was “working to find out everything we possibly can about what happened”.

There was no connection to terrorism and no others were involved, said Troyer.

The plane thief “is confirmed a suicidal male”, Troyer wrote. “Our hearts are with the family of the individual aboard as well as all of our Alaska Air and Horizon Air employees”. “I thought this is really odd”. He was born in Key West, Florida, and moved to Wasilla, Alaska, when he was seven.

“To my knowledge, it’s not that easy I know starting turbine engines you have to wait for a certain internal rotational speed before you add the fuel”, said Alex Furois. “He was always smiling”.

“I’m not quite ready to bring it down just yet”, Richard said. “I was dead set against it”.

Thank you for signing up for the 5 Things to Know Newsletter. “I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt”. “I don’t wanna, I don’t know”.

The wooded area is hard to access, and because there are no fire engines on the island, everything has to get to there via ferry, Adams said.

Video taken by a bystander showed the 76-seat plane making a big, slow loop-the-loop as US Air Force F-15 jets gave chase, then flying low over Puget Sound before crashing into sparsely populated Ketron Island, setting trees on fire.

It was unclear how the employee was able to taxi the plane on a runway and take off without authorization.

John Waldron told CNN: “I started to capture video, just because I thought it was, kind of weird”. No one was injured on the ground, authorities said.

It gives everyone an inside look at Richard’s life as a Horizon employee alongside DeAndre. Russell said he was having a “blast” and had learned to fly from video games.

According to Mike Ehl, director of operations at Sea-Tac, 75 flights were delayed, nine flights were diverted to other airports and five flights were canceled.

The Alaska Airlines plane was stolen without any passengers on board and took off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state on Friday night before crashing near Ketron Island.

“Most importantly I get to visit those I love most”, Russell said in a video he produced on YouTube.