A Horizon Airline Mechanic stole an empty commercial airliner at Sea-Tac airport in Western Washington at around 8 pm on Friday night. The 29 year old flew it for about an hour before crashing it on Ketron Island in Puget Sound about 25 miles from the airport. Authorities do not believe the incident has any nexus to terrorism. The person flying the plane did not survive the crash.
Two F-15 fighter jets were dispatched to intercept the plane. The person flying the plane was not a pilot and had no idea what he was doing. He made several loops as the control tower attempted to talk him down. He told them he had no plans to actually land the plane. He remained completely calm as he spoke to the Air Traffic Controller, though it appeared he was on a suicide mission.
“I just kinda want to do a couple manuevers to see what it can do before I put her down.”
“I got a lot of people that care about me. It’s gonna disappoint them to hear that I did this. I would like to apologize to each and everyone of them.”
“Everything is peachy. Just did a little circle. I think I got some gas to go check out the Olympics.”
#SeaTac a NON PASSENGERS Alaska Airlines plane was hijacked by a suicidal Horizon Air technician & had taken off from Tacoma, Seattle WA. Here conversation of Hijacker from air: SeaTac Airport pic.twitter.com/XqjuYJ19jt
— Sentido Común (@laobviarealidad) August 11, 2018
Horizon Airlines’ parent company is Alaska Air. Horizon’s CEO Gary Beck made this statement which read in part:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
“The Horizon Air Q400, which was taken from Sea-Tac International Airport, was not scheduled to fly at the time of the incident. While we have not yet confirmed the identity of the employee, we have confirmed that all crew and passengers are accounted for. Air Traffic Control was in contact with the individual during the brief flight before it crashed on Ketron Island about an hour after it left Sea-Tac. No ground structures were involved in the crash.”
“We are working closely with the authorities and our own safety teams to thoroughly understand this incident.”
Ketron Island is not heavily populated and only has around 20 residents. No buildings were hit during the crash.
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
@KING5Seattle here’s a video of the hijacked plane and fighter escort from Steilacoom in the ferry line for anderson Island pic.twitter.com/8fgAUe05xv
— Kai Simpson (@Kai_AHS) August 11, 2018
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
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.
— Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) August 11, 2018
FAA sources say it appears an airline employee stole a Horizon Air Turbo Prop from SeaTac and took off and crashed Ketron Island outside Seattle https://t.co/cUoWB7ruJt
— Kris Van Cleave (@krisvancleave) August 11, 2018
Stolen horizon airplane crashed into Ketron island. Preliminary info is that a mechanic from unknown airlines stole plane. Was doing stunts in air or lack of flying skills caused crash into Island
— Pierce Co Sheriff (@PierceSheriff) August 11, 2018
H/T Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children
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