This Airline Employee Stole A Plane And Took It For A Joyride Before Crashing Near Seattle
Military jets chased an airline employee who stole a plane for a joyride before crashing it near Seattle, Washington
Late yesterday evening, an employee of Seattle's Sea-Tac Airport stole an airplane and performed several stunts in the air before crashing the plane on a small island not too far away from the city. Thankfully, there were no other passengers on board the plane and it only held the 29-year-old "suicidal” male, who later died from the horrific crash.
Photo courtesy of AP/Getty
The Pierce County Sheriff's Department has reported that they do not believe the incident was an act of terror but that it was instead a joyride that went wrong – the man was merely trying to perform aerial stunts.
According to Alaska Airlines, the small passenger plane was taken around 8 p.m. (11 p.m. Eastern Time) although it was not scheduled for a passenger flight. The airline has confirmed that the man worked for Horizon Air, a part of Alaska Air Group that flies shorter routes throughout the western part of the United States.
Two F-15 jets were scrambled out of Portland, Oregon in an attempt to redirect the aircraft out over the Pacific Ocean before it crashed and burned in the woods of Ketron Island, a small, rural area of Pierce County. It was later reported by the Pierce County Sheriff's Department that the 29-year-old ground service agent died from the crash.
@KING5Seattle here’s a video of the hijacked plane and fighter escort from Steilacoom in the ferry line for anderson Island pic.twitter.com/8fgAUe05xv
— Kai Simpson (@Kai_AHS) August 11, 2018
While those who were attempting to fly out of Sea-Tac were stranded on the tarmac for nearly an hour while the incident was taking place, operations have resumed back to normal since the incident.
An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers at Sea-Tac; aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound. Normal operations at Sea-Tac Airport have resumed.
— Sea-Tac Airport (@SeaTacAirport) August 11, 2018
It’s sad to hear that this poor man lost his life after flying away with a stolen plane. Let us know what you think about the incident in the comments section below and be sure to subscribe to The Sitch for more breaking news and other entertaining reads.
