Investigation ongoing into Sumner man who stole plane from Sea-Tac

By Joe Teehan August 13, 2018 5:52 am

KGMIAP Photo/Ted S. WarrenThe site on Ketron Island in Washington state where an empty Horizon Air turboprop plane crashed Friday after it was stolen from Sea-Tac International Airport is seen from the air, Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018, near Steilacoom, Wash. Investigators were working to find out how an airline employee stole the plane and crashed it after being chased by military jets that were quickly scrambled to intercept the aircraft.

8-13-2018

SEA-TAC, Wash. — Investigators have recovered the flight data recorder from the plane taken by an airline worker who performed dangerous loops before crashing into an island in Puget Sound.

The FBI says it has also found components of the cockpit voice recorder from the Horizon Air plane.

The National Transportation Safety Board is now processing the information.

29-year-old Richard Russell of Sumner stole the commercial plane Friday night from Sea-Tac Airport, performing acrobatic stunts before crashing into a thick island forest.

He chatted calmly with air traffic controllers during the stunt, saying that he didn’t know how to land the plane and “wasn’t really planning on landing it.”

Russell worked for Horizon Air as a ground service agent and apparently didn’t have a pilot’s license.