Seattle FBI agents have recovered the flight data recorder and components of the cockpit voice recorder from the Horizon plane that was stolen and crashed by a 29-year-old airport worker on Friday night.

The Pierce county medical examiner’s office confirmed on Sunday night that Richard Russell had died in the wreckage, but whether the crash was deliberate or accidental is still one of several topics remaining for investigators.

F-15 fighter jets were scrambled to pursue the rogue aircraft after it took off at 7.30pm on Friday and circled south of Seattle before crashing on Ketron Island in the Puget Sound waterway about 25 miles (40km) south-west of the airport.

The Horizon Air plane was captured doing large loops and other dangerous manoeuvres. In recorded comments to air traffic controllers, the 29-year-old Seattle-area resident had indicated he intended to crash the plane.

But he also cracked jokes, complimented the professional demeanor of an air traffic controller and apologized for making a fuss.

Richard Russell: quiet, well-liked Seattle airport worker who stole a plane Read more

“I think I’m going to try to do a barrel roll, and if that goes good I’ll go nose down and call it a night,” Russell said from the cockpit, according to a recording of his conversation with the controller.

Russell, who had worked for a three and a half years as a Horizon employee, worked as a ground service agent. His responsibilities included towing and pushing aircraft for takeoff and gate approach, de-icing them, and handling baggage.

Tragic as Russell’s death was, he could have inflicted vastly more damage had he been so inclined. Investigators are also looking at how, nearly 17 years after the 9/11 attack, someone can simply take a passenger plane from a major US airport without authorization.

“Last night’s 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,” Brad Tilden, CEO of Alaska Airlines, told a news conference on Saturday.

The plane was a Bombardier Q400, a turboprop that seats 76 people, owned by Horizon Air, part of Alaska Airlines. It had been parked at a cargo and maintenance area for the night after arriving from Victoria, British Columbia, earlier in the day.



Authorities said Russell used a tractor to rotate the plane 180 degrees, positioning it so that he could taxi toward a runway. They said it is not clear whether he had ever taken flight lessons or used flight simulators, or where he gained the skills to take off. The plane did not require a key, but it did require buttons and switches to be activated in a particular order.

His 75-minute flight during the golden twilight took him south and west, toward the Olympic mountains. As a flight controller tried to persuade him to land, he wondered aloud about whether he had enough fuel to make it to the Olympics, talked of the beautiful view, and said he had a lot of people who cared about him, apologizing for what he was doing.

He complimented the controller: “You are very calm, collect, poised,” he said.

He said flying was a “blast” and that he didn’t need much help: “I’ve played some video games before.”

“You think if I land this successfully Alaska will give me a job as a pilot?” he joked.

He also told the controller he “wasn’t really planning on landing” the aircraft, and he described himself as “just a broken guy”.

Authorities sent fighter jets to escort him, and the controller repeatedly tried to direct him to runways. But the plane slammed into tiny Ketron Island, a sparsely populated island south-west of Tacoma.

Russell went by “Beebo” on social media. On his Facebook page, which had limited public access, he said he was from Wasilla, Alaska; lived in Sumner, Washington; and was married in 2012.

In a humorous YouTube video he posted last year, he talked about his job and included videos and photos of his travels.

“I lift a lot of bags. Like a lot of bags. So many bags,” he said.

Russell’s family said in a statement that they were stunned and heartbroken. They said it was clear Russell did not intend to harm anyone, and “he was right in saying that there are so many people who loved him”.

