What is known about a person hijacking a passenger plane in Seattle - ForumDaily
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What is known about a man hijacking a passenger plane in Seattle

Seattle Airport Terrestrial Worker hijacked an empty airliner bombardiertaking off without the permission of dispatchers. The plane stayed in the air for more than an hour, and then fell on one of the nearby islands. The hijacker, performing strange tricks, told the dispatcher that he had mastered the operation of the airliner through video games.

Russell's first and last flight. Photo: YouTube / Q13 FOX screenshot

The 29-year-old man has been working for Horizon Air for over three years, towing airplanes, cleaning them, and loading and unloading luggage, local authorities reported, writes Air force.

According to their information, the hijacker passed all the necessary checks, and his documents were in perfect order.

An employee of the airport, whose name was Richard Russell, according to the American media, took off Friday night. To intercept the plane in the air, two F-15 fighters were alerted and escorted him right up to the moment of the crash. According to reports, survived the hijacker failed.

Local police have already stated that the incident is most likely not related to terrorist activities, and the hijacker had suicidal tendencies. The plane, which carried out strange maneuvers, managed to videotape dozens of eyewitnesses.

The entire flight lasted about one and a half hours.

Washington State Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said he believes the incident was a gamble that ended badly: “Terrorists don’t usually fly in circles over water.”

Photo: YouTube / Q13 FOX screenshot

How did you manage to hijack a plane?

The hijacking of the aircraft became known on Friday evening; it took off unauthorized from Seattle / Tacom International Airport around 20: 00 local time.

The hijacker chose a Bombardier Q400 for his purposes, a twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed for 76 passengers, owned by Alaska Airlines. After the plane took off without the dispatcher's permission, the airport was closed; its normal operation was resumed only an hour and a half later.

Passengers posted videos on social networks from planes at the airport - the commander of one of them, for example, warned those in the cabin over a loudspeaker that “the safest thing now is to stay inside.”

After the hijacking, two F-15 fighter jets were scrambled from an air base in Portland - many eyewitnesses were able to film how the hijacked Bombardier was escorted by the fighter. However, according to the police, military aircraft had nothing to do with the final crash.

Photo: YouTube / Q13 FOX screenshot

The air force command explained that right up to the crash of the F-15 they tried to direct the plane towards the Pacific Ocean. Airline and airport officials held a briefing where they said the hijacker had permission to board the plane, meaning there were no “security breaches.”

Before he went to work, the hijacker's identity was checked. “He had a shift yesterday, so we assume he was in uniform,” Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden said.

According to Tilden, the planes do not have locks on the doors or keys in the ignition - security is ensured by other measures.

“As far as we know, he did not have a pilot’s license,” said Horizon Air CEO Gary Beck, adding that he did not understand how the hijacker was able to control such a complex machine.

Police assume the hijacker acted alone.

Aviation expert David Gleave from Loughborough University explained to the BBC that a plane of this size cannot be hijacked simply by "turning the key in the ignition". However, according to him, if the hijacker managed to launch the on-board systems of the airliner, take off and control it, then it is not so difficult.

“There’s plenty of room in the sky for things to get wild. But returning to earth is the moment when full-fledged skills are required,” says the specialist.

At the same time, Glive assumes that it took less than a minute for dispatching services to notice something was wrong.

Who is Richard Russell

Photo: YouTube / Q13 FOX screenshot

The authorities did not officially give the name of the hijacker, but his relatives have already told that this is about the employee of the ground service of the Horizon Air airline Richard Russell, nicknamed Bibo.

His family is “shocked and upset.” “It may be hard to believe, but Bibo was a kind-hearted, compassionate person. He was a devoted husband, loving son and good friend,” the family said in a statement.

“He was a quiet guy. Other employees seemed to like him,” a former colleague of Russell’s told the Seattle Times. At Horizon Air, Russell was responsible for towing aircraft and also handling baggage.

Russell was 29 years old. After takeoff, he contacted the airport dispatcher - he addressed the hijacker Rich or Richard.

In the audio recording obtained by the media, the man’s voice sounds excited. He admits to the dispatcher that he simply broke down and went a little crazy.

“There are so many people who are worried about me. They will be upset when they find out what I did,” “Rich” addresses the interlocutor.

Russell's motives are unknown - police said he may have been suicidal and there was no evidence he wanted to harm other passengers.

Photo: Twitter

How was the flight?

As follows from Rich's conversations with the dispatcher, the plane had enough fuel to fly to the Olympic Mountain Range in northern Washington State. At the same time, at some point, the hijacker said that he would like to look at a killer whale named Tahlequah - the media wrote that she had been trying to help a dead calf off the coast of Canada for more than two weeks - Russell asked for her coordinates.

Throughout the conversation, the controller tried to persuade Russell to land - he claimed that he was able to do this thanks to his experience in virtual flights in video simulators. In particular, he was asked to sit down at the Lewis-McChord military base.

“Oh, buddy, I think these guys will give me a beating if I try to sit there. And I could damage something there - I wouldn’t want that. Besides, they probably have air defense systems,” Russell replied. His interlocutor unsuccessfully tried to convince him that there were no such weapons at the base.

Despite the dispatcher’s entreaties, the hijacker said that he was not ready to land: “But I probably need to stop looking at the fuel level, because it’s running out quickly.”

A few minutes before the crash, he also spoke about the problems with the engines. The dispatcher asked him to stay close to the water.

One eyewitness, John Waldro, told CNN that the plane made a full turn before heading straight: "It was flying with a noticeable bank, at one point it almost brought the plane down."

“Then he somehow managed to level himself again,” Waldro said. “After that, he retreated towards the island.” According to him, at some point the plane was at an altitude of no more than 30 m above the water.

On numerous videos, it’s really noticeable how the pilot Bombardier tries to perform aerobatics. The state police also said that Russell was trying to do tricks, but noted that for this he lacked flying skills.

In a conversation with the dispatcher, Russell suggested that he would be given a life sentence for the hijacking. But he immediately asked if he would be given a pilot position in the event of a successful landing.

An hour later, the plane crashed onto the sparsely populated Ketron Island in Puget Bay and crashed. Presumably, Russell died during the crash. It is unclear whether he specifically directed the plane to the ground or simply lost control.

The investigation of the incident took over the FBI. Alaska Air Group said it is working closely with the authorities to figure out what happened.

Photo: Twitter

“He was a big sweet kid.”

Rick Christensen, who retired after 32 years in the airline's Horizon employee, noticed the plane hijacked by Russell in the sky that very evening, he said Buzz Feed News.

"For a plane that size flying that low, something wasn't right," said Christensen, 61, who said he immediately contacted former colleagues to figure out what was going on.

Shortly afterwards, he saw a spot of black smoke after the explosion of a fallen plane.

“I didn’t know he was alone. I thought there were 76 passengers on the plane and I felt really bad. I was terrified."

Colleagues told Christensen that the plane was being flown by Russell, a man with whom Christensen regularly worked - they learned about this from the news.

“I thought he was such a big sweet baby. He always smiled, was quiet, did his job,” the man recalls.

According to Christensen, Russell did not even learn how to start the aircraft engine, it was not part of his work, but he could repeatedly see how mechanics or pilots did it.

“I never thought that anyone could do something like this,” Christensen says.

Other Horizon Airlines colleagues also expressed their condolences over Russell's death. “He was so good to me. If necessary, he took my shifts. I never knew he was fighting a battle we didn't know about. He always smiled,” one colleague wrote on Facebook.

The last year of Richard Russell

In 2017, Russell led a blog about work and family, including his wife Hannah, whom he married in 2012. Previously, the couple kept their own bakery in Oregon.

In a video posted on YouTube last December, Russell talked about his work and how she gave him the opportunity to travel the world.

“I'm a ground handling agent. This means I lift a lot of bags. Lots and lots of bags. So many bags,” he said. “But it allows me to do some pretty cool things.” The video shows his travels, including a sightseeing tour of Alaska, a trip to France and playing rugby in Ireland.

In one of the blog posts, Russell developed a logo that included a picture of a Q400 turboprop engine, exactly the same as on the plane that he hijacked on Friday evening. Then Russell wrote that this is the type of aircraft he was working on.

Photo: YouTube / Q13 FOX screenshot

Russell wrote that he hoped to become a manager at the Horizon, or go to serve in the army or law enforcement agencies, as soon as he finished his studies.

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