Moment airline employee steals plane before it crashed, revealed on CCTV

Moment airline employee steals plane before it crashed, revealed on CCTV


Newly released surveillance footage shows airport worker Richard Russell going through security and boarding the plane he stole
Recently released surveillance footage shows airport worker Richard Russell going through security and boarding the plane he stole (Photos: Port of Seattle)

The chilling moments that led to an airport baggage handler stealing a plane and deliberately crashing it on a remote island have been revealed in new surveillance footage.

Richard Russell, 29, was seen walking through security at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in August 2018 in a T-shirt with the words “The Sky’s No Limit.”

More than five hours after passing through the security checkpoint, Russell is seen walking toward the cargo area of ​​the airport intended for baggage handlers, in the video released by the Port of Seattle.

Russell gets on a tarmac tow truck and tows the Alaska Airlines plane he plans to steal onto the airport runway.


Richard Russell wrote a T-shirt with the message 'The sky''s no limit'
Richard Russell wrote a T-shirt with the message ‘The sky’s no limit’ (Photo: KING 5†

He then appears to step into the plane and the cockpit.

‘Seattle Ground Horizon man. ‘Seattle Ground Horizon man. About to take off. It’s going to be crazy,” Russell tells air traffic control according to the video obtained by coin†

“Hey, I was in a predicament. I’m in the air now. And just fly around.’

Although air traffic controllers begged Russell to land safely, he continued to joke with them.


Newly acquired video of the 2018 robbery of a Horizon Airlines plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport shows air traffic controllers and pilots scrambling to keep other planes in the area safe during the emergency
Newly acquired video of the 2018 robbery of a Horizon Airlines plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport shows air traffic controllers and pilots scrambling to keep other planes in the area safe during the emergency (Image: KING 5†

“Hey, do you think if I land this successful Alaska will give me a job as a pilot?” said Russell.

An air traffic controller tried to bring Russell to safety after all.

“There’s a runway on your right in a mile, see?” said the inspector.

“Oh, those guys will try to turn me on if I try to land there…” Russell replied. “I think I screwed up there too. I wouldn’t want to do that. Oh, they probably have flak.’

Russell was also heard to say that he was “just a broken man” and that he was preparing for “a life sentence.”

The FBI previously said that Russell knew how to fly a plane from his job at the airport, but that he did not have a pilot’s license.

An air traffic controller said Russell “needs help flying his plane,” to which he said, “No, I mean, I don’t need that much help. I’ve played some video games before.”

Russell was an employee of Horizon Air, a regional subsidiary of Alaska Airlines. It was airborne for 73 minutes and crashed on Ketron Island, which has fewer than 20 inhabitants, in the Puget Sound.

“I have a lot of people who care about me,” Russell said before crashing into the plane. “They’ll be disappointed to hear that I did this.”

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