Seattle-Tacoma Plane Thief ‘Had Full Airport Credentials’

A man who stole an empty passenger plane from Seattle airport and then crashed it was an airline worker with full credentials, authorities say.

The 29-year-old had worked for Horizon Air for more than three years, towing and tidying aircraft and loading bags.

The man, named by US media as Richard Russell, took off late on Friday, forcing the airport to close while two fighter jets gave chase.

After making “incredible manoeuvres”, he crashed the plane and was killed.

The flight lasted 90 minutes and the crash site is on Ketron Island, a sparsely populated area in Puget Sound.

“At this time, we believe he was the only one in the aircraft but of course, we haven’t confirmed that at the crash site,” said Jay Tabb, chief of the FBI’s Seattle division.

Transcripts of his conversation with air traffic control reveal a man who appears surprised about his feat, who is unclear as to the full operations of the plane, who has no intention to hurt anyone and who ultimately apologises to his loved ones, saying he is “just a broken guy”.

A 12-year-old boy has been found alive in the wreckage of a plane crash which killed eight people in Indonesia.

Photos from the scene show the boy conscious and looking at the camera.

He was found with the wreckage on a mountainside near the border with Papua New Guinea on Sunday morning.

The Swiss-made Pilatus aircraft he had been travelling in lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday afternoon, shortly before it was due to land at Oksibil airport.

The plane, owned by private charter Dimonim Air, had been travelling from Tanah Merah, about 40 minutes flight south, to Oksibil in the province of Papua when it went down.

It was carrying nine people, including two crew members.

According to news agency AFP, nearby villagers heard a “loud roar followed by an explosion”.

An investigation into the cause of the crash will be carried out, officials said.

Planes are one of the only ways to get around Papua province, a remote and mountainous region which is extremely difficult to navigate.

However, its rapidly changing weather conditions mean it is not an easy place to fly.

Three years ago, a Trigana Air twin turboprop plane came down near to Oksibil, killing all 54 on board.

Source: BBC