WA - Major security incident at SeaTac Airport. All planes are grounded, Aug 2018

[Breezie]

Man who authorities say took airliner and crashed was a standout athlete in Alaska

Richard played football and was a wrestler. Does anyone think it is possible that he might have had CTE?

Concussion... Not Just Football. Wrestling Tops The List.


Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski was found to have CTE, from
autopsy, and he was only 21.

WSU quarterback Tyler Hilinski had signs of CTE at suicide, family says

Tyler Hilinski suicide: Washington State QB had CTE, his parents reveal

 

[neesaki]

He sounded resolved to me.
It’s really gut wrenching to hear his last moments.
Yes I have empathy for him and his loved ones. My brother also convinced himself through depression that he would not be missed. It was a life long battle. Prayers to all.

I agree, it's heartbreaking to me.

 

[neesaki]

and he clearly stated such

the surprise and authenticity in voice when he stated he did not even know it etc was stunning and sad

Also, didn't he state that he had some screws loose but didn't know it until now ? God this is so sad.

 

[neesaki]

When I initially saw this yesterday, I didn't want to look further: thinking 'oh no, not another....'
So really behind, and will catch up.
Surely due to poor security, for this to be even possible, there will be major changes made, to prevent similar incidents.
When a person 'tries' something new, endangering and killing innocent people, a 'copy cat' effect has sometimes occurred, and we hear of similar incidents.

I'm extremely concerned with the copycat effect as well, this has gotten so, so much attention, especially with broadcasting the dialogue between this pilot and the ATC all over the world. It's a scary thought.

 

[MsFacetious]

Check out his blog. He was living the life.

So was Anthony Bourdain.
So was Leanne Bearden.

You just never know what's actually going on, especially without knowing them in person.

I guarantee 95% of people would be stunned to know about my personal life. I keep everyone on a very superficial level. Almost nobody has any idea of what my life is actually like.

Maybe this guy was similar. People felt they knew him, but they really did not.

Or maybe he sounds like someone who is mentally ill and not acting like he normally would and is not thinking clearly.

IMO, he clearly did not intend to harm anyone. He did indeed endanger lives, but he did not seem in the right mind to understand that. If he did understand that and did not care, my feelings of empathy would be quite different.

There is nothing to suggest this man was anything other than a decent man who got super sick.

Absolutely. He did not drive his car into another vehicle, injuring or killing others. He did not crash the plane into a populated area. He did not do any number of things he could have done. Yes, there was some risk in what he DID do.

However, I think he did it that way to prevent backing out. Just like some people will do other things to ensure they can't change their mind. I think this was his equivalent of that.

Knowing it wasn't like cutting the rope, setting down the gun, closing the cut, backing away from the cliff or throwing up the pills.

He couldn't just land the plane and go home. There was no way out of this and I think that's why he chose this route. To make sure he followed through.

That's just my thought however, who knows.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I know this won't be a popular post based on all of the compassionate and kind remarks about this fellow. I can't get past his extraordinary flying skills; *major* skills. He was taught somewhere, and I'm not buying the simulator story....at all. There are nefarious flight schools that teach these type of skills for destructive purposes. I am leaning forward waiting to hear whether we have a mentally ill person here, or more of an ideological kamikaze.

 

[PaulR]

He did not drive his car into another vehicle, injuring or killing others. He did not crash the plane into a populated area.

That latter part is wrong. That island is populated. It may be lightly populated, but that's like saying it's OK to fire a gun into a lightly populated neighborhood because there is a chance nobody will get hurt.

And the area around the airport has a lot of housing. Some parts are blue collar, lower income areas.

However, I think he did it that way to prevent backing out. Just like some people will do other things to ensure they can't change their mind. I think this was his equivalent of that.

Then do the "walk into the forest, handcuff yourself to a tree, and throw the keys as far as you can" trick. That's been done before. Or hang yourself. Plenty of people figure out ways of killing themselves. I wish he would have gotten help, but most people who kill themselves manage to do it without putting other people in body harm.

Knowing it wasn't like cutting the rope, setting down the gun, closing the cut, backing away from the cliff or throwing up the pills.

He couldn't just land the plane and go home. There was no way out of this and I think that's why he chose this route. To make sure he followed through.

Well, he may very well have been able to land the plane if he was talked to by ATC/pilots. Difficult but not impossible. Mythbusters tried this years ago and they found a pilot was able to help them land. Maybe next time he should play with a demon core, that's foolproof.

 

[rosesfromangels]

That latter part is wrong. That island is populated. It may be lightly populated, but that's like saying it's OK to fire a gun into a lightly populated neighborhood because there is a chance nobody will get hurt.

And the area around the airport has a lot of housing. Some parts are blue collar, lower income areas.



Then do the "walk into the forest, handcuff yourself to a tree, and throw the keys as far as you can" trick. That's been done before. Or hang yourself. Plenty of people figure out ways of killing themselves. I wish he would have gotten help, but most people who kill themselves manage to do it without putting other people in body harm.



Well, he may very well have been able to land the plane if he was talked to by ATC/pilots. Difficult but not impossible. Mythbusters tried this years ago and they found a pilot was able to help them land. Maybe next time he should play with a demon core, that's foolproof.

Tickling the dragon’s tail!

 

[Roselvr]

Woke up to the news. Was after midnight when the story broke according to what I'm seeing.

I read a few pages of replies, page one and the last 2 plus a few articles. Haven't watched video yet. I feel so bad for the survivors he left behind.

The little I've read, he definitely didn't want to back out. He asked about going to jail, knew he wasn't gonna do that.

This is what should have happened when Malaysia 370 went off course. There should have been military tailing it! I hope other countries learn from this. It happens.

Prayers to his family and loved ones for they have to live with this for the rest of their lives. It will be forever online and outlive them. Big hugs

 

[Gardenista]

So was Anthony Bourdain.
So was Leanne Bearden.

You just never know what's actually going on, especially without knowing them in person.

I guarantee 95% of people would be stunned to know about my personal life. I keep everyone on a very superficial level. Almost nobody has any idea of what my life is actually like.

Maybe this guy was similar. People felt they knew him, but they really did not.




Absolutely. He did not drive his car into another vehicle, injuring or killing others. He did not crash the plane into a populated area. He did not do any number of things he could have done. Yes, there was some risk in what he DID do.

However, I think he did it that way to prevent backing out. Just like some people will do other things to ensure they can't change their mind. I think this was his equivalent of that.

Knowing it wasn't like cutting the rope, setting down the gun, closing the cut, backing away from the cliff or throwing up the pills.

He couldn't just land the plane and go home. There was no way out of this and I think that's why he chose this route. To make sure he followed through.

That's just my thought however, who knows.

Please read the comment I was responding too. We were talking about his salary.

 

[Gardenista]

Did Seattle baggage handler learn how to fly and do aerial stunts in a SIMULATOR? Expert gives his opinion on mystifying suicide of 29-year-old hijacker as devastated parents express their shock

 

[jjenny]

I guess he wanted to go out with a bang.
He seems to be much more normal than most involved in that type of behavior. Married, had a job. Didn't seem to be any red flags that something like this was going to happen, at least from what has been reported so far.

 

[jjenny]

I know this won't be a popular post based on all of the compassionate and kind remarks about this fellow. I can't get past his extraordinary flying skills; *major* skills. He was taught somewhere, and I'm not buying the simulator story....at all. There are nefarious flight schools that teach these type of skills for destructive purposes. I am leaning forward waiting to hear whether we have a mentally ill person here, or more of an ideological kamikaze.

He didn't try to destroy anything other than the plane. Not sure what extraordinary skills were needed here that he couldn't have learned in a flight simulator. After all he didn't even have to land the plane.

 

[Laughing]

He didn't try to destroy anything other than the plane. Not sure what extraordinary skills were needed here that he couldn't have learned in a flight simulator. After all he didn't even have to land the plane.

BBM

How much time have you spent in an airplane cockpit? There are schools that train pilots in a 4 year bachelor's degree program. The military takes months.

Long ago I was a recreational pilot's kid. I am still occasionally referred to as "Autopilot" because I was able to maintain course while my Dad did other tasks -- resetting radios, checking charts, reviewing flight plan with towers, correctly switching from one control area to the next. Too short to see over the cowling (dashboard) I was routinely able to fly by the instruments under supervision BRIEFLY. This did NOT happen on my first trip in the cockpit, either.

Even in a small plane, there are many, many instruments, sets of radios, gauges, indicators. Some of these are electronic systems, some are physical systems. Toggles, buttons, switches in front of you, in front of the other seat for safety -- but within reach for solo flight, switches over your head, the aircraft equivalents of accelerator & steering, flaps, the list goes on.

Flying is tiring, physically & mentally, there is a lot going on in there.

And -- aircraft move in 3 dimensions: pitch, roll, and yaw -- while your car moves in two and your house relatively not at all. That's likely part of Mr. Russell's lightheadedness.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has flown this aircraft or an actual simulator for this aircraft. That simulator would have the controls & switches in their actual locations.

I wonder if the ground radios are generally left on this airline?

That level of control from a video game? Skeptic here.

YMMV, check your fuel gauges in pattern and KNOW WHEN AND HOW TO OPERATE THE CONTROL TO SWITCH TANKS.

 

[jjenny]

Well, we know the guy was able to do it, and there is no information that he was taught how to fly an actual plane, at least so far. So until some information is reported to suggest otherwise, I believe the guy learned it from flight simulator. It is also possible he had flight lessons although that hasn't been reported.
911 hijackers did go to flight school, but they did not practice how to fly commercial airliners. Yet they managed to do it and hit the targets.

 

[drama_farmer]

wow

until an hour ago I heard it only him and the ATC

we missed a huge trigger for suicide financial

out of the whole thing i have heard the most mysterious is screaming at andrew who is that and honestly it is the only time he sounded delusional like he was arguing with someone he thought was there ??

It was the nastiness he was the entire time

jekyll hyde like

he was gruffly screaming at someone or thing or

Love reading your stuff, CARIIS. . . your personality always shines through.
About that "Andrew" line: could it be dialogue from a movie or TV show? That's how it first struck me, almost like he was "in character" for just a second, then returned to his normal "ah shucks" personality. MOO

 

[rosemadderlake]

Yes, the 911 hijackers, three out of four planes hit their targets. They did not have to take off, but did have actual flying experience, and obvi knew their way around the commercial controls and drove the planes into their targets.

Rich was employed for three years by horizon air. Obviously he was a really bright kid, and had experience with the aircraft controls in his ground operations work. I think he learned some of the technical aspects from a variety of sources: simulators, the actual dashboard of the plane he flew, perhaps curiosity in convos with pilots, and I imagine there are technical blogs on flying with lots of input.

As nice as this young man seems, as good natured as he was about his unsatisfying job, and so tragically as loved as he was, sometimes external forces converge. I sense he really missed Alaska, his family, and felt under appreciated in his work life. A spiritual crisis can spark a downward spiral. This echoes what another poster stated (sorry I can't remember who) that something occurred, or was unmet in childhood. It's almost as if the impossible stunt of his action, his dazzling risk taking was a blowout of not being seen. In his own words he was surprised, himself. His unhappiness, sense of obligation, warm and friendly personality was a mask covering over a brilliance kept hidden...

 

[Cortne]

Love reading your stuff, CARIIS. . . your personality always shines through.
About that "Andrew" line: could it be dialogue from a movie or TV show? That's how it first struck me, almost like he was "in character" for just a second, then returned to his normal "ah shucks" personality. MOO

I totally agree. He’s in and out of reality like a child.
I also love reading CARIIS. This event triggered personal pain for lots of people. And empathy. Thanks for being so understanding. I pray for his loved ones.

 

[CARIIS]

Man who authorities say took airliner and crashed was a standout athlete in Alaska

Richard played football and was a wrestler. Does anyone think it is possible that he might have had CTE?

Concussion... Not Just Football. Wrestling Tops The List.



Good morning

Humm interesting notion

Has anyone been able to flight tracker on this one

you know what hit me in a dream he stated he wanted to do some more flips , on the ground now it like inverted per ntsb i bet he tried to do one more and then did what he said was going put her down

i would think ntsb will have presser today to give us update on how search for recorders went ..

is a chance they have been damaged to the point where not data can be read

I have been ttying to get the radar tape it lifted off at 732 so if we can find a track from that airport at 732 that ought to be him.. Obviously no flight number (!) but i would think it would still be there if anyone can think of a way using 732 as our marker that would be great (it would end at 847 ish)

7.32pm on Friday and flew, tailed by F-15 Eagle jets, until the plane crashed at 8.47pm into Ketron Island, located 25 miles south-west of the airport.

will continue trying !!

I'm extremely concerned with the copycat effect as well, this has gotten so, so much attention, especially with broadcasting the dialogue between this pilot and the ATC all over the world. It's a scary thought.

I think replicating this one would be pretty difficult but is has made public aware of how back door operations at our airports are seriously lacking

The real concern IMO is the heightened awareness would increase the liklihood of folks with sinister intent now know that it is really easy to get behind the front end operations

baggage handlers have been stealing for decades - pay someone big money to INSERT something into a checked bag and houston we have problems

surprised it has not happened before

money rules

American Airlines baggage handler,drug smuggling,

charged three Southwest Airlines baggage handlers

A former baggage handler at LAX pleaded guilty Friday to a federal .

staff at airports stealing - YouTube

The vast majority of airport employees with direct access to the tarmac and airplanes do not go through any daily security screening, and only two of the country's major airports have systems in place that require all employees with secure access to pass through metal detectors, a CNN investigation has found.

it blew me away during the Ft Lauderdale shooting at how many people were running all over the tarmac with access to the belly holes of dozens of planes how easy it would have been for someone to place a bomb on . At that point I did not know if it was part of a bigger plan to do such .

At first that is what I thought was going on he was shooting in baggage area why on earth at all the gates are letting people out on the tarmac>

=================================
RE However, I think he did it that way to prevent backing out. Just like some people will do other things to ensure they can't change their mind. I think this was his equivalent of that.

RE I am leaning forward waiting to hear whether we have a mentally ill person here, or more of an ideological kamikaze.

I think it was pure final bucketlist type of event. His joy at being up there is clear he is loving the sights he excitement about the loop him not quite being ready to try and end situation. To go from a cookie store to tarmac is quite a jump -- much of his SM is aviation related - an affinity for it is all over his life moo--------------------
=======================================
but most people who kill themselves manage to do it without putting other people in body harm.

Not nowadays most mass shooters want to kill themselves or be killed by cops. It almost seems nowadays many many suicides are only completed AFTER killing others. This guy did not -makes him actually rare,, sadly
=========================================

Well, he may very well have been able to land the plane

He did not want to come down alive .
Even he changed his mind he did not have enough fuel to do all that. He would have to been able to see how inputs and outputs feel and work configure for landing etc etc . Takes half an hour for pros to configure and land! Was the myth busters one a single engine or a commercial airliner

Its the stuff of movies! In this case a horrid one!

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[Elley Mae]

West did say that in that role on the tow team, there's access to the cockpit, training on the radio and the ability to move the airplane.

Family of man killed in Horizon Air crash shares their thoughts



It would not have been rocket science for him to get the plane off the ground, which he did.