Airplane mechanic hijacks flight Air Q400 and crashes after doing stunts on mid-air in Seattle
In a major event, a 29-year-old airplane mechanic Rich who appeared to be a suicidal man hijacked an Air Q400 plane from Seattle’s international airport, did some stunt and crashed on a nearby island.
The local Pierce County Sheriff, Paul Pastor, confirmed via Twitter that the man — believed to be an employee of Horizon Airlines — was acting alone when he made the unauthorised flight and was chased by F15 fighter planes.
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.
— Sea-Tac Airport (@SeaTacAirport) August 11, 2018
It was caught on a video, the chase ended when the 76-seater aircraft crashed on Ketron island, around 50km southwest of Seattle.
Some dude stole a plane from #Seatac (Allegedly), did a loop-the-loop, ALMOST crashed into #ChambersBay, then crossed in front of our party, chased by fighter jets and subsequently crashed. Weird times. pic.twitter.com/Ra4LcIhwfU
— bmbdgty (@drbmbdgty) August 11, 2018
The stolen aircraft belonged to Alaska Airlines sister carrier Horizon.
The mechanic allegedly hijacked this plane at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Friday night and crashed into the Puget Sound in Washington.
We've confirmed a Horizon Air Q400 that had an unauthorized takeoff from SeaTac around 8pm has gone down near Ketron Island in Pierce County, WA. We're working to confirm who was on board, we believe there were no guests or crew on board other than the person operating the plane.
— Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) August 11, 2018
I'm listening through the archive of the radio chatter on the #seatac hijacking. Below are some of the clips. pic.twitter.com/ziBAYv7cgn
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
In a statement released on Twitter, Sea-Tac Airport confirmed the reports of an “unauthorized takeoff.”
“An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without permission at Sea-Tac; aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound,” the tweet read. “Normal operations at Sea-Tac Airport have resumed.”
Here he is realizing how quickly he is burning through fuel. pic.twitter.com/ftnpowm9D4
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
In a statement to PEOPLE, Alaska Airlines said, “We are aware of an incident involving an unauthorized take-off of a Horizon Air Q400. We believe there are no passengers on board. More information as we learn more.
It is not clear yet that if Rich survived the crash.
However, Pierce County Sheriff said the hijacking was not a “terrorist incident”.
Later, Alaska Airlines confirmed the crash by tweeting,
“We’ve confirmed a Horizon Air Q400 that had an unauthorised takeoff from SeaTac around 8pm has gone down near Ketron Island in Pierce County, WA.
“We’re working to confirm who was on board, we believe there were no guests or crew on board other than the person operating the plane.”
After the stolen Air Q400 took off without any kind of authorisation it went into lock down with all flights halted.
However Sea-Tac Airport has now confirmed that normal operations have resumed.
Aircraft circling #Q400 crash site on Ketron Island (bottom center), shown in relation to Sea-Tac Airport (top right). https://t.co/KP0FxohCkh pic.twitter.com/VxvfXTHkTO
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) August 11, 2018
It is not clear yet that if Rich survived the crash.
However, Pierce County Sheriff said the hijacking was not a “terrorist incident”.
Later, Alaska Airlines confirmed the crash by tweeting,
“We’ve confirmed a Horizon Air Q400 that had an unauthorised takeoff from SeaTac around 8pm has gone down near Ketron Island in Pierce County, WA.
However Sea-Tac Airport has now confirmed that normal operations have resumed.
Male is confirmed a suicidal male. Acted alone he is 29 year old Pierce county residence . We are working back ground on him now.
— Pierce Co Sheriff (@PierceSheriff) August 11, 2018
“We’re working to confirm who was on board, we believe there were no guests or crew on board other than the person operating the plane.”
After the stolen Air Q400 took off without any kind of authorisation it went into lockdown with all flights halted.
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First published: 11 August 2018, 12:30 IST