Rest in peace Rich. Would love your thoughts, please comment. To impress a woman, he arrived in a helicopter to take her on a classified mission, officials said. (More info in comments) 2 years ago today, Richard Russell, an - reddit You seemed like a nice guy and a hell of a natural pilot., Seattle hijackers plane heist, midair stunts and fiery crash expose gaps in aviation security. A Port of Seattle official, Mike Pohl, said that Russell used an airport tractor to pull the parked plane onto a runway, which he would have known how to do, as part of his job in ground service was towing airplanes. On Instagram, Hannah Russell posted recent photos with Rich. I just want you to whisper sweet nothings into my ear, said Rich, who claimed he could fly the plane because he played video games. Audio captured emotional conversations between the man, named as Rich, and air traffic controllers trying to help him land safely. Published New footage shows airport worker Richard Russell steal plane That means I lift a lot of bags so many bags, he says. He was always smiling.. SeaTac airport., Morgan Chesky, a reporter for KOMO News, wrote, Per JBLM source: After being contacted by F-15s, stolen plane began to nose dive, crashing in north Pierce County., NTSB investigator Debra Eckrote held a Saturday morning press conference, the day after the crash, and indicated that investigators are trying to determine what his process was and where the aircraft was going. She identified Rich as ground support so, you know, they have access to aircraft, and described it as lucky that the plane crashed on a very underpopulated island.. The couple settled in Sumner, Wa., where Russell got a job at Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, so he could easily fly back to Alaska to see his own family. quote: On August 10, 2018, a Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 was stolen from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) in Seattle, Washington. Ive got a lot of people that care about me. Family Left Heartbroken After Airline Worker Steals and Crashes Plane. As the voice recordings show, Beebos intent was not to harm anyone and he was right in saying that there are so many people who love him.. Human remains were recovered from the site, the FBI said Sunday, and Russell is presumed dead in the crash. This is a Tribute Video to the late Richard Russell, better known as the Sky King. In another moment, Russell said he was lightheaded and talked about adjusting the cabin pressure, but it was not clear whether he was able to do that. According to suicide prevention expert, Dr. Christine Moutier, middle-aged White men account for 70% of deaths from suicide each year. Get the help you need from a therapist near youa FREE service from Psychology Today. [41] They sold the bakery in 2015 so his wife could be closer to her family; they settled in Sumner, Washington, and Russell found employment with Horizon Air. There is the runway just about a mile off your right side, do you see that? A former coworker, Rick Christenson, told The Seattle Times: He was a quiet guy. Yay air force . At one point, he says to the utterly professional air traffic controller, Im sorry about this. A football teammate suggested his mental instability had been caused by undiagnosed chronic traumatic encephalopathy that may have come from repeated concussions. Im going to disappoint them to hear that I did this. Although he didnt have a pilots license, Russell knew how to work the plane from his experience as an airport employee, the FBI previously said. The footage shows him going through security wearing a T-shirt that says "the sky's no limit." What happened from then, left a. He was on meth.. The episode has also suggested that Russell was more complicated than the easygoing persona of his known online footprint. For Richard Russell | kirkforlatt The fighter jets were scrambled from Portland. Now, in new footage of the moments before he took off, the 29-year-old can be seen walking through airport security with a The Skys No Limit T-shirt. But there appears to be no manifesto, no digital trail of warning signs from Russell. Then, about an hour after he took off, Russell plunged into sparsely populated Ketron Island 25 miles southwest of the airport, sparking an intense fire. [37], Horizon Air CEO Gary Beck stated that, as far as the company knew, Russell did not have a pilot's license. Authorities said they dont think he had a pilots license and arent sure how he was able to take off, much less perform complicated tricks in the air like a barrel roll. At one point, Russell told a controller he had played a lot of video games. Can Humans Detect Text by AI Chatbot GPT? [5] It was not scheduled to fly again that day. Footage of Russell performing the barrel roll was captured on video by Facebook[2] user John Waldron. Richard Russell, AKA Rich, the man who took the Sea-Tac plane and crashed it. [9], On August 11th, 2018, journalist Jimmy Tomson tweeted out a series of audio clips in which Russell can be heard talking to an air traffic controller (shown below).[3]. Holy smokes, Ive got to stop looking at the fuel because its going down quick.. Newly Released Footage Shows Richard Russell Steal Plane - Breitbart 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Patient, new father among 5 killed in medical flight crash, Medical aircraft crash in Nevada leaves 5 dead: report, 5 dead in small plane crash in Little Rock, Human error eyed as cause of Yeti Airlines crash that killed 72 people. The general feeling was, "It is a wonder that more of us don't crack from the tedium and meaninglessness of our consumer culture." Would love your thoughts, please comment. Hannah and Beebo met at a Campus Crusade for Christ gathering at Southwestern Oregon Community College last year, the site reported. You can listen to more archived aviation audio on the incident here, some of which captures the mans voice: READ NEXT: TikTok Influencers Son Murdered at Gas Station. Russell flew wild loops over Puget Sound, screamed low over frightened onlookers and had existential and, at turns, bizarre chats with air traffic controllers as two Air Force F-15 jets gave chase. I was born in Key West, Florida, and moved to Wasilla, Alaska when I was 7. "[22], The two F-15s attempted to direct the aircraft toward the Pacific Ocean, and did not fire at it. In 2018, a Horizon Air employee, Richard Russell, stole a plane with no prior flying experience, making international headlines. Its not clear how he pulled off the intense maneuvers captured on video. Our first date, he kind of cornered me into it, Hannah Russell said to the site. The 2 Most Psychologically Incisive Films of 2022, The Surprising Role of Empathy in Traumatic Bonding, Two Questions to Help You Spot a Clingy Partner-to-Be. He preciously worked as a ground service agent at Horizon from 2015 to present. Never really knew it, until now, Richard Russell said at one point. Magazines, stole a plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Or create a free account to access more articles, 'Beebo Was Loved By Everyone.' A week after Richard Russell stole a Horizon plane from Sea-Tac Airport and crashed it on Ketron Island, there are few hints about why he did it or how he was able to fly the aircraft. Audio from the SeaTac tower reported that aircraft were lined up on the tarmac at one point. The incident resulted in Russell losing his life when he crashed on Ketron Island in Puget Sound, but people on sites like 4chan refused to let his story end there. The airline confirmed that an unauthorized take-off occurred. Russells family released a statement to the news media expressing great shock and remembering Russell for his compassion. It was worth it, he said, to conveniently travel to Alaska, where he grew up, to visit family. In one blog, he describedaspirations to land a management job or join the military. I think I might mess something up there, too. Richard Russell Plane Crash Video From Seattle, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Pilots kept plane out of harms way and people on ground safe. He and his wife Hannah started a bakery in Oregon in their early 20s, according to a 2012 story in a local paperthat depicted a happy, determined couple. The Sky King Richard Russell: Understanding Why He Died sky king, sky king memes, richard russell, 4chan, sky king 2, based. TikTok Influencers Son Murdered at Gas Station. Others said it was wrong to glorify him for an act that could have killed more people. The individual did use a pushback tractor to rotate the aircraft 180 degrees so he could then taxi the aircraft, Pohl said at the news conference Saturday. The perpetrator, 29-year-old Richard Russell, was a Horizon Air ground service agent with no piloting experience. Richard Russell, 'Rich': 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know What happened to Richard 'Beebo' Russell between Alaska and Washington 1:10. Russell, who worked for Horizon Air, a regional subsidiary of Alaska Airlines, flew the plane for 73 minutes before crashing it into remote Ketron Island, which has fewer than 20 residents. Subscribe to NBC News: nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC Watch more NBC video: bit.ly/MoreNBCNews NBC News Digital is a collection of innovative and powerful news. I feel really bad for Richard and for his family. He did a barrel roll in a stolen plane and went out in a blaze of glory. It is impossible to encompass who he was in a press release. They deemed Russell the Sky King inspiring an outpouring of memes in his memorial and a possible copycat this September. The flight data recorder may show how well Russell managed the aircrafts myriad functions. After he landed, Mr. Walters was arrested and charged with unlawful operation of an aircraft within a controlled air traffic area. Damnit Andrew, peoples lives are at stake here, Rich said at one point in the audio, which you can listen to later in this article. People expressed an emotional connection with him through postings on social media, T-shirts, and tribute songs. But that flight was his last. About. "[38], Russell was born in Key West, Florida, and moved to Wasilla, Alaska, at the age of seven. What have I done? He flew around as an air traffic controller calmly tried to reason with him. Richard Russell, a ground control agent, died after he stole the plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in August 2018 and drove it into the ground of a remote island in the Puget Sound . They opened a bakery and ran it for three years before selling it in 2015 to be closer to Hannahs family. After 29-year-old airline employee Richard B. Russell stole a plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Friday night and crashed it into Ketron Island in Puget Sound, questions remain about why and how he undertook the ultimately fatal flight. Authorities said Russell was suicidal. In the audio clips, Russell calls himself "broken" and says he knows how to fly a little bit thanks to video games. I don't want to. He spun a plane around Friday evening without raising suspicion and climbed aboard with 76 empty seats behind him. Defying attacks, arts return to Somalia with first TV drama in 30 years, Divorced and remarried, these Afghan women are outlaws under Taliban rule. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night: When Faustian Man Has No Way Out "What can you expect," some said, "when you take people whose great-great-grandparents were pioneers, grizzly bear hunters, and city-builders and make them baggage handlers, call center operators, and sales clerks?" Sky King / Richard Russell | Know Your Meme But after that apology, oblivion seemed like the only option left to him. Richard Russell was a suicidal airport ground services worker who stole an airplane from Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle, Washington, and took it on a dramatic unauthorized flight, where it was chased by fighter planes as he attempted stunts in the air before the plane crashed. The hardest part of stealing a commercial plane from an international airport was already over for Richard Russell. Beebos intent was not to harm anyone, and he was right in saying that there are so many people who loved him, Mathews said. Periodically, his voice cut into the dispatches. Richard Russell had a website that appears to have been for a college communications class. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Psychology Today 2023 Sussex Publishers, LLC, Psychology and the Mystery of the "Poisoned" Schoolgirls. [7], SeattleTacoma air traffic control (ATC) maintained radio contact with the occupant. Human remains were recovered from the site, the FBI said Sunday, and Russell is presumed dead in the crash. When I arrived, he was in the kitchen, in the middle of his Sunday morning ritual of cleaning his cleaning supplies. Oh- theyve probably got anti-aircraftnot quite ready to bring it down just yet. . He was a faithful husband, a loving son, and a good friend, the family said in the statement, which was read by a friend, Mike Mathews, ABC reported. Russell, the sole occupant of the aircraft, perished in the crash. Tulepo Police Chief John Quaka told CNN that Patterson had "some flight instruction" but was still in training. Oh, a purple one! Russell exclaimed. (If you need help, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.). Legal Information: Know Your Meme is a trademark of Literally Media Ltd. By using this site, you are agreeing by the site's terms of use and privacy policy and DMCA policy. RIP Sky King, a user wrote. Russell wrote that he was pursuing his Bachelor of Social Sciences and hoped to work his way up to a management position at Horizon Air or to join the military or law enforcement. On August 10, 2018, a Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 was stolen from SeattleTacoma International Airport (SeaTac) in Seattle, Washington. Sea-Tac airport confirmed the plane was down a short time later. At one point, Rich reported that he threw up all over the cockpit, according to the audio. An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers at Sea-Tac; aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound. 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