Stolen aircraft incident at Sea-Tac exposes aviation security blind spot
Authorities are seeking answers about exactly how an airport worker managed to steal an empty commercial jet at Seattle-Tacoma Airport in what is arguably the most serious breach of aviation security since 9/11.
The incident has highlighted the risk of ‘insider threats’ as Richard Russel was a fully security cleared Horizon Air employee with airside clearance.
The 29-year old ground agent stole an empty Horizon Air turboprop plane, took off and crashed it on a small offshore island after being pursued by military jets that were immediately scrambled.
Russel’s remains were reported discovered on sparsely populated Ketron Island and the plane’s audio flight recorder has been found and is being analysed.
Authorities said neither of the chasing military jets fired on the Horizon Air Q400 jet.
"(This) 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," said Brad Tilden, CEO of Alaska Airlines.
Russel had clearance to direct aircraft movements at the airport but there is no evidence he was a qualified pilot, Horizon Air CEO Gary Beck said in a news conference.
Despite this he performed dangerous loops and other risky manouvers before crashing.
He alluded to playing ‘video games’ in rambling communications with air traffic controllers which suggests he may have learned on flight simulators.
"There were some maneuvers that were done that were incredible maneuvers," Beck said.
"I don’t know how he achieved the experience that he did."
Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the sheriff’s department said there was no evidence at all of a terrorist motive.
"I wasn’t really planning on landing it," Russell is heard to say to air traffic controllers, who described him as ‘suicidal.’
Russel described himself as ‘just a broken guy, got a few screws loose.’
While we may never know exactly what was going through Russel’s mind at the time, it has sparked major security concerns.
"The greatest threat we have to aviation is the insider threat. Here 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," Erroll Southers, a security expert and former FBI agent told the AP.
"If 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," he said.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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