Richard Russell
On August 10, 2018, a Bombardier Q400 operated by Horizon Air was stolen from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport (Sea–Tac) by 28-year-old Richard Russell, a Horizon Air ground service agent with no piloting experience. After Russell performed an unauthorized takeoff, two McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle fighters were scrambled to intercept the aircraft. Sea–Tac air traffic control made radio contact with Russell, the sole occupant, who described himself as a "broken guy ... got a few screws loose, I guess." About 1 hour and 15 minutes after takeoff, Russell successfully executed a loop before purposely crashing the aircraft on the sparsely populated Ketron Island in Puget Sound with the intent to die by suicide. There were no collateral human injuries; Russell was the sole fatality.
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