Stolen Airplane ‘a Serious Breach,’ Raises Questions About Security

He was a 29-year-old grounds crew member, fully credentialed to be inside secure areas and certified to tow aircraft around the tarmac. But federal investigators, Sea-Tac officials and his employer are scrambling to figure out how Richard Russell managed to steal a 76-passenger Horizon Air turboprop plane, take off from one of the busiest airports in the country and fly it around the south Puget Sound area before a fiery twilight crash Friday evening.

The answers to these questions could eventually alter security procedures not only at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport but at other airports around the country.

"Security is something that is taken very, very seriously, and this clearly was a serious breach," said Michael Huerta, who until January of this year served as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA. "It won't surprise me if steps are taken to change protocol or put additional steps in place ... The insider threat is something that is taken seriously."

The FBI is leading the investigation into the takeoff and crash, working with the National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA, the airlines, the Port of Seattle, which operates the airport, and state and local authorities. Investigators had not released Russell's name as of Saturday afternoon, but several sources, including a law-enforcement official, identified him to The Seattle Times.

Russell's roughly 75-minute flight drew spectators on the ground, lit up social media, and caused F-15s to be scrambled from an air base in Portland as 75 flights were delayed for up to two hours at Sea-Tac. Law-enforcement officials have said they don't believe terrorism was involved, and nothing from Russell's dialogue with air traffic control during the flight would suggest otherwise. That dialogue, captured in publicly released audio recordings, also offers little evidence of motive as Russell tells an air traffic controller he just circled Mount Rainier, calling it "beautiful," and hoped to have enough gas to go the Olympic Mountains.

While the air traffic controller tries to convince him to land at Joint Base Lewis-McChord or in the water, Russell talks of wanting to do a barrel roll, "and if that goes good I'm just going to nose down and call it a night."

Air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft at 8:47 p.m. Friday and his flight ended on the heavily wooded 230-acre Ketron Island, which has a population of about 20, igniting a forest fire that was still smoking Saturday. No one on the ground was injured.

The insider threat is a difficult one to counter. Many of the protective measures involve using background checks, such as criminal screens conducted on airline ground crews such as baggage handlers and tow operators, to ensure that anyone inside a secure area does not pose a security risk. Although the employee was at the end of his shift — and had no purpose approaching the aircraft — he did have the right to be in the area where he made his heist, according to Brad Tilden, chief executive of Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Horizon.

FAA regulations require pilots to undergo periodic physical examinations that may include questions about their psychological condition. Additionally, if the FAA receives information from another source about a mental-health issue, the agency may request a psychological evaluation. But no such evaluations are required for grounds-crew members.

The investigation into the aircraft theft will likely include a more detailed look at the scope of the screenings conducted on airline employees who have access to the ramps and also their ability to enter grounded aircraft.

"We pride ourselves on being a leader in safety and we will be a leader on this issue," Tilden said at a news conference Saturday morning. "But we're less than 24 hours after the incident. It's far too early to say what additional procedures we might implement."