Analysis: Horizon Dash-8 Q400 stolen from airport and crashed
Over the few days, media has been flooded with multiple hundreds of reports about an aircraft that was stolen from an airport and dangerously flown, but what actually happened?
Now that information is clearer, we can get a full understanding on what occurred during the incident.
Heading back to beginning, a Horizon Air de Havilland Dash 8 Q400 became airborne without gaining permission from air traffic control in the area on the 10th of August, 2018 Seattle time. The aircraft, registered N449QX, took off from Seattle’s 16C with no call sign whatsoever and no passengers or crew onboard.
With air traffic control not having any luck getting appropriate communications and information, two F-15 Fighters were scrambled to intercept the aircraft. The fighters were speedy too, generating two sonic booms over the area.
The person in control of the aircraft was 29 year-old Richard Russell, who was a ground employee for Horizon Air. The airline released in a statement that Richard had no previous flying experience, citing that even if he had flown a small aircraft like a Cessna, it’s completely different to flying a commercial aircraft.
During the times where Richard did communicate to air traffic control, he stated that he had played some video games to get an idea but this still doesn’t provide the amount of knowledge to perform what he did.
Various observers on the ground filmed the ordeal in horror as the aircraft performed loops, dives and high-speed passes. The F-15s also added to the confusion, with some members of the public fearing another set of 9/11 attacks.
The following video outlines the observations:
A photo of the aircraft in an inverted state:
ATC remained calm and professional once they had established the fact that the aircraft was being controlled by someone of ill-intent. Conversations were ongoing and plans were put in place to minimize danger on the ground and in the air.
Even though Richard was given the option to land at a nearby airport, he stated that he never intended to land:
“I wasn’t really planning on landing it.” – Richard to ATC
After describing his experience in the air and subtly saying goodbye, Richard and the aircraft went down in a forest at Ketron Island. It is not understood whether it was forced down or the engines of the aircraft did fail as suggested by Richard.
The full ATC communications can be heard in the following videos:
Since the crash, the FBI has taken over the investigation, working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to determine the why and how of the crash.
Media and ground observers originally speculated that one of the F-15s shot the aircraft down with one of its AIM-21 or AIM-9 weapons loaded at the time. This was later confirmed as false by the North American American Aerospace Defense Command.
The FBI states that dozens of people are at the crash site working to collect evidence. So far, the known position of the aircraft before it was taken was that it was in maintenance configuration and was not in scheduled passenger service.
Terrorism has been ruled out and the accident has since been determined as an act of suicide. The FBI and NTSB have sourced the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and will use these to uncover any other transmissions that were not passed on to air traffic control.
NTSB regional chief Debra Eckrote described the crash site to media on August the 11th:
“It is highly fragmented. The wings are off. The fuselage is… upside down. Last night there was a fire, so they weren’t able to identify everything.The terrain is thick underbrush… and heavily wooded.”
Human remains of a single person were located at the crash site.
Mental Health
These unfortunate events are a massive eye opener to the world of mental health. Not only do they outline the effects it can have on a person, it unlocks possible safety flaws/concerns in the aviation industry.
As mechanics and pilots are pushed, so are their minds. Not everything will be identified as to what led Richard to this tragic incident but whatever is found, will likely be used to facilitate better mental awareness and training for everyone in the industry. After all, mental health is a major player in previous aircraft related accidents such as the German Wings flight that was forced down by one of it’s pilots.
Incredible amounts of money and research has been poured into aircraft safety when operated by the hands of trained pilots but has enough been poured into the research, prevention and help of those that need it?
It’s important to look out for yourself as well as others. In today’s world where social media and media dominates our minds, it’s important to constantly monitor each other as that’s how we avoid horrific incidents like these.
So far, we understand that Richards actions were not of terrorism, but those of mental issues. Perhaps if he had someone to talk to visit, this accident could have been avoided.
What do you think?
i do believe that is the truth ,before the incident happened nobody noticed the things happened on him and even neither his family member ,after that he said that he just want to escape from the distracted time which merely kill him.
I have to say that today ‘s safety aviation is just based on the truth which could break-down and disappear in one day
for example the suicide when a pilot want to do that ,which is the fact that maybe the trust could break-down one day , in 2015 germanwings and the incidents happened around the world even in east-asia and the southeasten Asia.
The NTSB and all other news outlets will take this way out of scope. They will be looking to blame someone or something other than the man himself. For them, it’s an opportunity to not let pass by. The man was calm and clearly spoken, he knew what he was doing and wanted to do. He never wanted to hurt anyone or even inconvenience them in any way. He was having fun, I’ll bet if you look into it all that man ever did was work and be nice to others, I bet he was nice to others that wanted to harm him. He just broke, he needed a friend and the controller could have helped this guy but all he would say is land it. Had he been a friend instead of constantly saying land the plane he would have. At one point he even sad so. Whisper sweet nothings to me, he was reaching out for help and none was given. Who gives a crap about that plane, save the man, tell him where he could go to get a block altitude away from others and let him play as you try to become his friend so you can talk him down. This could have had a much better ending.
Didn’t want to hurt anyone? Didn’t want to inconvenience anyone? What do you think happens when someone destroys a $20M airplane? How many people lost their job because of his act of cowardice? How many family members did he hurt by his act of cowardice? Who do you think paid to replace that airplane following his act of cowardice? Certainly not him. Hurting others is EXACTLY what he intended. He exacted revenge, but vengeance wasn’t his to exact.
The MSM is not being honest about Richard Russell (the man who stole a 76 seat airliner from Seattle/Tacoma airport)
The entire act was done because he was sick of being bashed as a white male, and wanted to commit suicide in a way no minority would ever have the talent to.
The MSM is being very misleading about what happened. They got two points right: He stole an airliner and died crashing it. Here’s what they did not dare say:
He stole the plane to intentionally commit suicide with it. He wanted to commit suicide with it because he had been bashed to death as a white male and believed he was cheated out of his rightful career path (this is a reality for many white males now, he was probably not delusional about it.) He was talented with video productions, journalism, was a world traveler and a botanist. He was stuck as an airport grounds maintenance worker.
No one knows where he got the skills but all the aerobatics were intentional and were announced by him before he did it. The MSM is not being honest about this and is saying his flight was chaotic. It was not, it was in fact well executed and intentional. He was followed by fighter jets throughout all but the first few minutes of a flight that lasted just short of an hour. He was running out of fuel, and with an engine starting to stall said “I am going to do a barrel roll, nose down, and call it a night”. And that’s exactly what he did, the plane crashed where he wanted it to because he maintained control to the end. The MSM is reluctant to say it this way. They are outright refusing to say it as it happened.