Horizon employee who stole, crashed plane was 'fully credentialed,' officials said

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden said both Alaska and Horizon Air are working with the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Transportation Safety Board to determine how a Horizon employee was able to steal what officials believe was an empty plane from the tarmac at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Friday at around 7:32 p.m.

The employee, whose name has not yet been revealed but who the Pierce County Sheriff's Office called "a suicidal male," crashed the Bombardier Q400 into Ketron Island just south of Tacoma about an hour after he took off. He was killed in the crash. The plane hit a remote part of the island and no structures were damaged.

"We’ve been told the FBI is the lead agency investigating this," Tilden said during a press conference Saturday. "Safety is our No. 1 goal. Last night’s event is going to push us to learn what we can from this tragedy to make sure this doesn’t happen again at Alaska Air Group or at any other airline."

"We are giving those investigators our full support and cooperation," Tilden added.

The incident raises questions about airport security. The Horizon employee who stole the plane was fully credentialed and was able to legitimately access the area where the plane was parked. He was a three-and-a-half-year veteran of the company and had undergone a background check that goes back 10 years.

"There were no security violations," said Mike Ehl, director of airport operations at Sea-Tac Airport.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2018/08/11/horizon-alaska-stolen-crashed-plane-safety.html?ana=e_sea_bn_breakingnews&u=ColXVN5SPzQtLHFP87ho2w07857290&t=1534028875&j=83218741

[lunasun]

1. Heavy has his name Seattle Times released it earlier. From Wasilla

https://heavy.com/news/2018/08/rich-russell-sea-tac-beebo-richard/o
https://heavy.com/news/2018/08/richard-russell-rich-seatac-beebo/

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

2. That makes sense. The Bombardier Q400 is not a simple airplane to fly.

I don't think I could just jump in and fly away in it -- hell, I don't think I could figure out how to start it -- and I've got a civilian commercial pilot's license with an instrument rating (no multi-engine endorsement, alas).

My first thought when I heard someone stole an airplane was, "Where's he going to land that they won't find him?"

When I heard he had crashed I thought, "What a waste of a perfectly good airplane!"

[LisaL]

3. He wasn't a pilot.

He was a baggage handler.

[joshcryer]

5. He probably watched a YouTube tutorial:

They're not saying he had flight experience just that he had very good security clearance. Everything about the guy says he was a normal day worker who worked on loading bags and moving stuff around. He had no cockpit experience as far as I've found nor has at any point experienced interest in flight.

I think that he simply looked up a guide and winged it.

Everything I've seen online about getting it off the ground is having to know the extensive startup procedure, but I think even you, if you had a checklist and perhaps a visual guide, you'd be able to do it in an arbitrary plane. But after that it's like playing a video game.

[KT2000]

4. I doubt any more security

would have helped. He was cleared to tow aircraft so was allowed to be where he was, other than in the plane.

I don't think this was a case of lax security but rather the bizarre instance of an employee who lost his mind. I guess that could happen anywhere by anyone.

[joshcryer]

6. Yeah you can never account for the lone wolf.

No matter what your security measures they will figure out a way if they are committed to their act. Luckily (well, tragically), this guy only wanted a way out and wanted to go out in a blaze of glory I guess.