Richard Russell with his wife Hannah. Photo / Facebook
Richard Russell with his wife Hannah. Photo / Facebook
The man who hijacked an Alaska Airlines plane in Seattle yesterday taking it for a joyride before crashing on an island in a ball of flames has been identified as Richard Russell, a married 29-year-old Horizon Air employee.
Russell had worked for Horizon Air at Seattle-Tacoma Airport for nearly four years, according to his LinkedIn account, as a ground service agent and an operations agent.
Authorities have yet to confirm the hijacker's identity, although Russell's Facebook friends and a former co-worker announced the news today.
Russell, who authorities called 'suicidal', hijacked an empty 76-seat Horizon Air turboprop Q400 after taking the aircraft from the maintenance area.
It remains unclear how the employee with no apparent flying experience was able to gain access to the jet and fly it out of the airport undetected.
During the hijacking, Russell joked with air traffic controllers about how he would be jailed for life for stealing the plane, before telling them he was a "broken man" with "a few screws loose".
Police blamed "doing stunts in the air and a lack of flying skills" for the crash that brought Russell's hour-long joyride to an end 40km away from Sea-Tac.
Witnesses described seeing the plane performing barrel rolls and loop-the-loops as the military planes directed it away from highly-populated areas and towards Ketron Island, where it crashed into a ball of flame.
"We don't know how he learned to do that," Horizon Air CEO Gary Beck told reporters when asked how Russell was able to perform loop-the-loops and barrels while flying the aircraft.
"Commercial aircraft are complex machines. No idea how he achieved that experience."
Horizon Air COO Constance von Muehlen said in a video statement that "our hearts are with the family of the individual on board as well as all our Alaska Air and Horizon Air employees".
Officials said during a press conference that Russell used a push back tractor to rotate the plane 180 degrees before take off.
Russell was born in Key West, Florida and moved to Alaska when he was 7, according to a 2017 blog post. He met his wife, Hannah, in 2010 while they were both in school and married one year later. It doesn't appear that they had any children.
The site on Ketron Island in Washington state where an empty Horizon Air turboprop plane crashed. Photo / AP
According to Russell's blog, he and Hannah opened a bakery called Hannah Marie's Bakery in North Bend, Oregon and ran it for three years.
In 2015, the couple relocated to Seattle "because we were both so far removed from our families", Russell wrote.
"Failing to convince Hannah of Alaska's greatness, we settled on Sumner because of its close proximity to her family," he posted.
While living in Seattle, Russell started working for Horizon Air writing that he enjoyed being able to travel to Alaska in his spare time.
Russell, who was pursuing his bachelor's degree for social sciences from Washington State University, said he wanted to move up in his company to one day work in a management position.
The Horizon Air turboprop plane flying over Eatonville, Washington state. Photo / AP
The Horizon Air worker, however, also had other dreams, writing on his blog that he was considering becoming a military officer.
Russell's blog is filled with pictures of him and his wife travelling across the globe. The 29-year-old also shared pictures from his wedding day and several videos showcasing what he does at work.
In one video, apparently for a class project, Russell introduces himself as 'Beebo Russell' and says he "lifts a lot of bags" at his job.
"Like a lot of bags," he says. "So many bags."
He went on to say that because of his job he's been able to visit places like France, Idaho, Mexico, Ireland and Alaska.
Russell ended the nearly two-minute long video by sharing photos of his family members, none of whom have publicly commented on the incident.
Rick Christenson, a retired operational supervisor for Horizon Air, told the DailyMail.com that Russell was "quiet" and "a nice kid".
A plane flies past a control tower at Sea-Tac International Airport. Photo / AP
Christenson didn't supervise Russell's team, but said he saw the 29-year-old in passing while at work.
"He always had a nice smile," he said. "He seemed quiet, and he always had a smile. The people that knew him said he was a nice guy."
Christenson said he was sitting on his deck at his Tacoma home with his wife, his cousin and his cousin's wife when he saw the Horizon Q400 fly over his house.
"All of a sudden one of the Horizon Q400s came over the house at 500 feet, followed by two F-15s; one was high, one was low," Christenson said, adding that he knew something was wrong because the plane was flying way too low.
The former supervisor said he grabbed a pair of binoculars to watch the aircraft, admitting that he was "scared" and "concerned" because he didn't know what was going on.
Christenson said while the plane was over the water it did a 360 degree roll "and went into a steep dive".
"He brought the one wing up and the whole airplane rolled and as it rolled it went into a dive. It looked control," he said, adding that the plane pulled up with less than 15m between the nose of the aircraft and the water.
Christenson said two minutes later there was "big plume of black smoke", indicating the plane had crashed.
Update Alaska Air says “We are aware of an incident involving an unauthorized take-off of a Horizon Air Q400. We believe there are no passengers on board.“
Sheriffs’ Cessna 206 still doing orbits near reported crash site south of Seattle. pic.twitter.com/3SWfuBcsyh
"I can tell you what, the manoeuver he did, that's not an aerobatic airplane. It's made to fly people from point a to point b and not do aerobatics. He did some aerobatics in the airplane that I was shocked to see," Christenson said, "and for him to do that I would think that he either played in a simulator or what. It looked pretty amazing to me. Maybe it was luck, I don't know."
The retired Horizon Air worker also said he doesn't understand how Russell was able to back the aircraft onto the taxiway by himself, although he said it is possible.
"It's not the procedure," he said, explaining that usually a two-person crew moves aircraft.
#BREAKING Alaska Airlines says it is aware of an incident involving an unauthorized take-off of a Horizon Air plane from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. This video was taken by a woman who lives south of the airport. She says this is the plane. (Courtney Jensen Junka) pic.twitter.com/Zh3E4aGfSk
Christenson said under normal circumstances one worker is in the cockpit communicating with with the tower, and a second person is on the tractor used to push the plane.
Authorities have said that Russell was in the aircraft alone, but don't know how he moved the plane and took off undetected.
Russell's main role as a ground service agent was to load and unload bags, direct aircraft for takeoff, and de-ice planes in the winter.
According to a job posting, ground service agents are paid roughly US$13.75 an hour and as a full-time employee they receive benefits, travel privileges for themselves and family members and are eligible for a bonus programme.
Nowhere in the job description does it mention that ground service agents are permitted to fly planes.
The man who stole the plane in Seattle has been ID'd as Richard Russell. He had passed a background check and was accredited to be in the secure areas of the airport. https://t.co/1itHDkxZCv
During a press conference, NTSB investigator Debra Eckrote said they are trying to determine "what his process was and where the aircraft was going".
"He's ground support so, you know, they have access to aircraft," she said, adding that that we're "very lucky" the plane went down on a "very underpopulated island".
She said the plane came to rest in a thick underbrush on Ketron Island, and first responders had to "blaze a trail" to get to the wreckage.
Eckrote said the plane is "highly fragmented" and the wings were torn off in the crash.
Eckrote called the incident 'very usual' and said the FBI were doing a background check on Russell to determine a motive.
Two F-15 fighter jets scrambled from Portland "minutes" after the plane took off to intercept it, according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Paul Pastor confirmed the incident was "not terrorist related" and described it as "a joyride gone terribly wrong". He said the man "did something foolish and may well have paid with his life".
Richard Russell exclaimed about the beauty of the scenery and asked how to do a barrel roll as air traffic control tried to persuade him to land. Audio of the conversation is in our story. https://t.co/RUJxUu0zVd
