FBI: Sea-Tac hijacker acted alone, crashed plane intentionally Richard Russell, 28, hijacked a Horizon Air plane in August and crashed it in Ketron Island

The fiery crash scene on Ketron Island, Wash. captured by KOMO's helicopter, after Horizon Air Q400 crashes after unauthorized takeoff from Sea-Tac International Airport on Friday, August 10th, 2018. Copyright KOMO News, used by permission. less The fiery crash scene on Ketron Island, Wash. captured by KOMO's helicopter, after Horizon Air Q400 crashes after unauthorized takeoff from Sea-Tac International Airport on Friday, August 10th, 2018. ... more Image 1 of / 21 Caption Close FBI: Sea-Tac hijacker acted alone, crashed plane intentionally 1 / 21 Back to Gallery

The FBI released a report Friday confirming what was believed to be true about the August hijacking of a Horizon Air plane from Sea-Tac Airport: that 28-year-old Richard Russell acted alone and crashed the aircraft into Ketron Island intentionally.

Russell reportedly identified himself as ground service crew Aug. 10 before manning the empty Q400 twin-engine turboprop and engaged in an hour-long back and forth negotiation with air traffic control where he mentioned not intending to land the aircraft, before the fiery crash on Ketron Island in north Pierce County, just south of Tacoma.

Russell, of Sumner, performed loops in the air above Pierce County Pierce County before crashing. The crash started a few small fires in the area, which West Pierce Fire Department upgraded to a two-alarm fire later that night.

RELATED: Sea-Tac Horizon Air employee steals airplane, does stunts before crashing near Tacoma

Because Russell died in the crash and did not have any accomplices, the FBI will not pursue criminal charges against anyone, according to Friday's report.

The FBI reviewed information from the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. The agency determined that during the final minute of flight, Russell was in control of the airplane and had plenty of time to recover during his descent into Ketron Island if he had wished not to crash.

He did not make any phone calls or make any other statements about his motive. Investigators said it was not a terror-related incident and appeared to have been a suicide.

"I've got a lot of people that care about me," the man said in audio obtained from Air Traffic Control radio communications. "It's going to disappoint them to hear that I did this. I would like to apologize to each and every one of them. Just a broken guy, got a few screws loose, I guess. Never knew it, until now."

Russell was a Horizon Air employee and had access to the exterior and interior of the plane as part of his duties, the report said. He did not breach any security protocol until the theft of the plane. The FBI determined that he hadn't had any formal flight training, but that he was familiar with the checklist of actions before a plane was to take off and his internet history yielded a search of flight instructional videos.

RELATED: Human remains, data and voice recorder recovered from stolen Horizon Air crash on Ketron Island

The FBI laid out a timetable of the day's events, saying that Russell arrived at a security checkpoint for work at 2:36 p.m. He climbed aboard the aircraft at 7:19 p.m. and began a sequence to start the plane, then used a tow vehicle to turn the nose around about 7:27 p.m. The plane took off at 7:33 p.m. and crashed at 8:46 p.m.

SeattlePI reporter Lynsi Burton can be reached at 206-448-8381 or lynsiburton@seattlepi.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LynsiBurton_PI. Find more from Lynsi here.