OLYMPIA, Wash. \u2014 Investigators worked to find out how an airline employee stole an empty Horizon Air turboprop plane, took off from Sea-Tac International\u2026<\/b>
\nOLYMPIA, Wash. \u2014 Investigators worked to find out how an airline employee stole an empty Horizon Air turboprop plane, took off from Sea-Tac International Airport and crashed into a small island in the Puget Sound after being chased by military jets that were quickly scrambled to intercept the aircraft.
Officials said Saturday that the man was a 3.5-year Horizon employee and had clearance to be among aircraft, but that to their knowledge, he wasn\u2019t a licensed pilot. The 29-year-old man used a machine called a pushback tractor to first maneuver the aircraft so he could board and then take off Friday evening, authorities added.
It\u2019s unclear how he attained the skills to do loops in the aircraft before crashing about an hour after taking off into a small island in the Puget Sound, authorities said.
At a news conference in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, officials from Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air said that they are still working closely with authorities as they investigate what happened.
\u201cSafety is our No. 1 goal,\u201d said Brad Tilden, CEO of Alaska Airlines. \u201cLast night\u2019s event is going to push us to learn what we can from this tragedy so that we can ensure this does not happen again at Alaska Air Group or at any other airline.\u201d
The bizarre incident involving a worker who authorities said was suicidal points to one of the biggest potential perils for commercial air travel: airline or airport employees causing mayhem.
\u201cThe greatest threat we have to aviation is the insider threat,\u201d Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent and transportation security expert, told The Associated Press. \u201cHere we have an employee who was vetted to the level to have access to the aircraft and had a skill set proficient enough to take off with that plane.\u201d
Seattle FBI agent in charge Jay Tabb Jr. cautioned that the investigation would take a lot of time, and details, including the employee\u2019s name, would not be released. Dozens of personnel were out at the crash site, and co-workers and family members were being interviewed, he said.
There was no connection to terrorism, Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the sheriff\u2019s department, said.
Video showed the Horizon Air Q400 doing large loops and other dangerous maneuvers as the sun set on Puget Sound. There were no passengers aboard.
Authorities initially said the man was a mechanic, but Alaska Airlines later said he was believed to be a ground service agent employed by Horizon. Those employees direct aircraft for takeoff and gate approach and de-ice planes.
Southers, the aviation security expert, said the man could have caused mass destruction. \u201cIf he had the skill set to do loops with a plane like this, he certainly had the capacity to fly it into a building and kill people on the ground,\u201d he said.
Gary Beck, CEO of Horizon Air, said it wasn\u2019t clear how the man knew to start the engine, which requires a series of switches and levers. \u201cWe don\u2019t know how he learned to do that,\u201d he said.
The plane was pursued by military aircraft before it crashed on tiny Ketron Island, southwest of Tacoma, Washington. Video showed fiery flames amid trees on the island, which is sparsely populated and only accessible by ferry. No structures on the ground were damaged, Alaska Airlines said.
Troyer said F-15 aircraft took off out of Portland, Oregon, were in the air \u201cwithin a few minutes,\u201d and the pilots kept \u201cpeople on the ground safe.\u201d
Sheriff\u2019s department officials said they were working to conduct a background investigation on the Pierce County resident.
The aircraft was stolen about 8 p.m. Alaska Airlines said it was in a \u201cmaintenance position\u201d and not scheduled for a passenger flight. Horizon Air is part of Alaska Air Group and flies shorter routes throughout the U. S. West. The Q400 is a turboprop aircraft with 76 seats.
Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said the man \u201cdid something foolish and may well have paid with his life.\u201d
The man could be heard on audio recordings telling air traffic controllers that he is \u201cjust a broken guy.\u201d An air traffic controller called the man \u201cRich,\u201d and tried to convince the man to land the airplane.
\u201cThere is a runway just off to your right side in about a mile,\u201d the controller says, referring to an airfield at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
\u201cOh man. Those guys will rough me up if I try and land there,\u201d the man responded, later adding \u201cThis is probably jail time for life, huh?\u201d
Later the man said: \u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of people that care about me. It\u2019s going to disappoint them to hear that I did this\u2026 Just a broken guy, got a few screws loose, I guess.\u201d
Flights out of Sea-Tac, the largest commercial airport in the Pacific Northwest, were temporarily grounded during the drama.
The plane crashed in a heavily wooded area of thick underbrush on the island, said Debra Eckrote, the Western Pacific regional chief for the National Transportation Safety Board. The crash sparked a 2-acre wildfire.
\u201cIt is highly fragmented,\u201d she said of the plane. \u201cThe wings are off, the fuselage is, I think, kind of positioned upside down.\u201d
Investigators expect they will be able to recover both the cockpit voice recorder and the event data recorder from the plane.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Saturday morning that President Donald Trump is \u201cmonitoring the situation.\u201d
Royal King told The Seattle Times he was photographing a wedding when he saw the low-flying turboprop being chased by two F-15s. He said he didn\u2019t see the crash but saw smoke.
\u201cIt was unfathomable, it was something out of a movie,\u201d he told the newspaper.
Gov. Jay Inslee thanked the Air National Guard from Washington and Oregon for scrambling jets and said in a statement \u201cthere are still a lot of unknowns surrounding tonight\u2019s tragic incident.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n

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