Richard Russell is the man believed to have hijacked the plane. Photo / via Facebook
Richard Russell is the man believed to have hijacked the plane. Photo / via Facebook
The man who stole a Horizon Air Q400 plane from Seattle's international airport for a short, dramatic flight before crashing on a nearby island has been identified.
According to The Sun, Richard Russell worked for Horizon Airlines as a ground service agent but is not believed to have had a pilot's licence.
"We don't know how he learned to do that," Horizon Air CEO Gary Beck said.
"Commercial aircraft are complex machines. No idea how he achieved that experience."
Russell was married, studying for a degree in social sciences from Washington State University and had dreams of joining the military, according to The Sun.
Richard Russell is the man believed to have hijacked the plane. Photo / via Facebook
The local Pierce County Sheriff, Paul Pastor, confirmed via Twitter that the man was acting alone when he made the unauthorised flight and was chased by F15 fighter planes. Local officials said the jets "were not involved in the crash".
Caught on video, the chase ended when the turboprop 76-seater aircraft crashed on Ketron island, around 50km southwest of Seattle.
The stolen aircraft belonged to Alaska Airlines' sister carrier, Horizon.
Video taken by a bystander showed the passenger aeroplane making an unlikely upside-down aerial loop, then flying low over Puget Sound before crashing into the sparsely populated Ketron Island in the northwestern US state of Washington.
The crash sparked a fire in the dense forest. Flames lit up the night as they spread from the burning wreckage to nearby trees.
The ABC reported air traffic control was in radio contact with the pilot right throughout the emergency.
Some of the audio was aired on the news bulletin.
"I got a lot of people that care about me and it's going to disappoint them to hear that I did this. I'm just a broken guy. Got a few screws loose..."
WARNING: Coarse language in video below. Disturbing footage.
WATCH: Video shows Stolen Horizon Airlines Q400 do loop in air and fly low to ground and water before crashing **VIDEO WARNING*** EXPLICIT LANGUAGE!
An airline employee "conducted an unauthorised takeoff" of an aeroplane carrying no passengers, then "crashed in south Puget Sound," Sea-Tac Airport officials said on Twitter.
The stolen plane was a twin engine turboprop Q400 aeroplane belonging to its sister carrier Horizon Air, Alaska Airlines said on Twitter. It normally carries 76 passengers.
"This is not a terrorist incident," Ed Troyer with the Pierce County Sheriff's office wrote on Twitter.
"Confirmed info... this is a single suicide male. We know who he is. No others involved," Troyer wrote The suspect was identified as a 29-year-old airline mechanic and Pierce county resident who "acted alone," Troyer added, confirming that there were "no passengers on the plane" when it crashed.
The Alaska Airlines plane flew above Seattle before crashing.
The sheriff's office also said that the F-15s, which were scrambled out of Portland, in the nearby state of Oregon, arrived minutes after the plane was stolen and kept the aircraft "out of harms way and people on ground safe." Horizon Air CEO Constance Van Muehlen issued a video statement describing the incident.
"We believe it (the plane) was taken by a single Horizon Air employee and no other passengers or crew were on board," she said. "Our hearts are with the family of the individual aboard as well as all of our Alaska Air and Horizon Air employees."
John Waldron, who took dramatic video of the stolen plane flying in a loop, told CNN that he was out for an evening stroll when he saw the two jet fighters following the turboprop aeroplane.
His first thought was that they were practising for an air show. "So, I started to capture video, just because I thought it was, kind of bizarre," he told CNN.
Waldron said it seemed that the jets were chasing down the aeroplane. "I thought this is really odd. Kept the video rolling." Then the passenger plane pilot "did a complete loop ... I couldn't believe he recovered." He estimates that the plane at its lowest point "was no less than 100 feet (30.5 meters) above the water." Then the pilot "pulled -- pretty much straight up. And kind of at an angle. And almost stalled the aircraft. Somehow he got it levelled back off. And then made his way down toward the island." Waldron said that he was prepared to "run and take cover." He briefly turned away, then turned back and saw the explosion as the plane crashed.
"Saw a bright, pinpoint area of flame. And the smoke. I thought, oh, my god. I think he just crashed."
One report said the man joked with traffic controllers during the short flight as F15s chased him that he was going to jail.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter the crash may have been caused by the mechanic "doing stunts in air or lack of flying skills."
It said the F15 fighter planes "made it within a few minutes of theft of plane. Pilots kept plane out of harms way and people on ground safe."
An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers at Sea-Tac; aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound. Normal operations at Sea-Tac Airport have resumed.
