What Do You Think of The Worker Who Was Able to Steal That Plane in Washington?

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

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When I heard the first little blurb about this, it was on my tiny radio under my pillow at night. I immediately thought of 9/11 and was hoping it wasn't the way it sounded at the time, like another terrorist attack via airplane. My mind was working overtime, not really helpful for sleep.

They had no real details yet when I heard that announcement. The next morning I was relieved to know that no attacks happened and that nobody was killed except for the man who stole the plane.

Strange that this could happen to begin with, he wasn't really a trained pilot, amazing there were no collisions with other aircraft also. Kind of scary that he was able to do that so easily. More here.

STEILACOOM, Wash. – This is the third day investigators have been sifting through the wreckage on Ketron Island, hoping to piece together what happened after Richard Russell took off from Sea-Tac on Friday night.


Richard, a Horizon Air ground crew worker, crash landed a turboprop in the woods at Ketron Island nearly an hour after speeding off the runway in Sea-Tac.


During that wild flight, Russell, a man who didn't even have a pilot's license, performed aerial acrobatics and carried on a detailed conversation with an air traffic controller, all while two fighter jets flew alongside him.


“Think I'm going to try do a barrel roll, and if that goes good, I think I'm going to nose down and call it a night, Russell said to the air traffic controller on Friday.
"Well, Rich, before you do that, let's think about this,” Air Traffic Control Tower said.


On Sunday, Air Four captured the wreckage on the desolate Pierce County Island, as both the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board sifted through the mess.
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He was 29 years old and deeply troubled. His employers knew this. What can you expect? It's not so surprising, but it is surprising that he was able to fly that commercial plane. Scary stuff. Thankfully no innocent people were hurt by his actions.
 
I think the worker who stole the plane is another victim of the poor mental health system in our country. Add that to the drug epidemic and you've got a disastrous cocktail not only for the victim but for everyone and everything around him. Sad.
 

Lara said:
I think the worker who stole the plane is another victim of the poor mental health system in our country. Add that to the drug epidemic and you've got a disastrous cocktail not only for the victim but for everyone and everything around him. Sad.
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It is very sad. It reminds me of a pilot who became depressed who took down an entire plane with passengers. He had suffered from depression and didn’t get the help he needed & flew a plane into a mountain killing several hundred people. Very sad.
 
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I think because of this incident,airlines need to do more extensive background checks on their employees,ask family members&friends about the person before they are hired
I hope there will be more security in these 'off limit' zones,for all employees. Where was the security,how did he get the keys?
Let's hope this doesn't happen again,very scary.This young man is now in a better place Sue
 
It seems like they could add a key code of some type to prevent unauthorized people from gaining access to the plane or starting it.

It's not just a potential issue with aircraft it could be an issue with heavy equipment that uses master keys, ships, etc...
 
Very very sad that he chose that way to end his suffering but he did the authorities a huge favor by exposing a giant hole in airport security.
 
Some woman probably 'done him wrong' and he lacked the maturity to put it behind him and get on with his life.
 
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