Airport security questioned after stolen US plane crashes

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A deadly crash of a passenger plane stolen by an airport employee in the Seattle area not only left the worker's family members devastated but also raises airport security questions.

Richard Russell, 29, a Horizon Air ground service agent, got into a Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft on Friday night in a maintenance area at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and took off, according to Horizon sister carrier Alaska Airlines.

He flew for about one hour, often with attempts at aerial stunts, before crashing onto sparsely populated Ketron Island in Puget Sound, some 25 miles (40 km) southwest of the airport.

The 29-year-old was believed to have been killed in the crash.

Members of the Pierce County Sheriffs Department are pictured near the Steilacoom Ferry dock which takes investigators to Ketron Island, the crash site of the Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 turboprop that was stolen from Sea-Tac International Airport, in Steilacoom, Washington, August 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

Two armed F-15 jets were sent chasing after the plane but didn't open fire, according to Cameron Hillier, North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman.

The local sheriff's department said on Twitter that either doing stunts "or lack of flying skills" caused the crash.

"This is a complete shock to us. We are devastated by these events and Jesus is truly the only one holding this family together right now," said the Russell family.

The young man was not known to have had a pilot's license, Horizon Air Chief Executive Gary Beck said at a news conference, and it was not clear how he was able to take off and fly as he did.

Russell had worked for Horizon Air for three and a half years and had clearance to tow planes, said Alaska Airlines Chief Executive Brad Tilden.

Media trucks are pictured in a parking lot at the Steilacoom Ferry dock which takes investigators to Ketron Island, the crash site of the Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 turboprop that was stolen from Sea-Tac International Airport, in Steilacoom, Washington, August 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

"The setup in aviation in America is we secure the airfield and then we have the mindset that we have employees that are credentialed and authorized to be there," Tilden said, adding that the airline was working with federal authorities including FBI and Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the case.

It's reported that the investigators were trying to retrieve the plane's flight data and its cockpit voice recorder on Saturday.

Promising to cast a wide net in finding what happened and why, FBI said it doesn't consider this a terror-related incident.

Experts say the plane crash exposed alarming gaps in airport security and is likely to bring a major review on the industry's security measures.

"The fact he was out there by himself, towing the aircraft by himself ... then moving the tracker out of the way, so he could get on the aircraft and move. The fact that all of that happened without even being noticed by anyone on the ground service crew, that is just phenomenal to me," former FAA safety inspector David Soucie was quoted by CNN as saying.

Source(s): Reuters