Live aviation audio from the tower said, at one point, that dispatchers were urging Rich Russell to try “to land that airplane safely and not hurt anybody” while dealing with a snarl of stalled planes on the ground. Here’s hoping that the next Rich crashes on a couch of a good listener. I’m praying for #Rich tonight-not just the guy who stole a plane from #SeaTac, but every guy like Rich who (it seems…but I’ll admit I’m assuming a lot here) is suffering and cannot find a better way out. I think I’m gonna try to do a barrel roll, and if that goes good, I’m just gonna nose down and call it a night.” He also said, “I’m gonna land it, in a safe kind of manner. It’s burned quite a bit faster than I expected.” “Yeah – I don’t know what the burnage…is like on a takeoff but yeah. “Rich, you said you had 2100 pounds of fuel left?” the controller responded. Maybe that will grease the gears a little bit with the higher-ups,” he said at another point.Īt another point, Richard Russell said, “I’m down to 2100 I started at like 30-something.” “I don’t need that much help I’ve played some video games before,” he told the controllers trying to help him. ziBAYv7cgnĪt one point, Rich asked for help in getting the cabin depressurized, complaining he was getting lightheaded. I'm listening through the archive of the radio chatter on the #seatac hijacking. Normal operations at Sea-Tac Airport have resumed,” the airport wrote. “An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers at Sea-Tac aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound. Sea-Tac airport confirmed the plane was down a short time later. I just want you to whisper sweet nothings into my ear,” said Rich, who claimed he could fly the plane because he played video games. “Ah, Rich, don’t say stuff like that,” the controller said. “Damnit Andrew, people’s lives are at stake here,” Rich said at one point in the audio, which you can listen to later in this article. Authorities said they don’t think he had a pilot’s license and aren’t sure how he was able to take off, much less perform complicated tricks in the air like a “barrel roll.” At one point, Russell told a controller he had played a lot of video games. I hope they can make it through this.” He said that airline employees go through background checks.Īudio captured emotional conversations between the man, named as “Rich,” and air traffic controllers trying to help him land safely. I feel really bad for Richard and for his family. It seemed like he was well liked by the other workers. On Facebook, his favorite quotes were religious in nature, including, “God IS Love” and “No Guilt in Life, No Fear in Death, this is the Power of Christ in Me,” and a non religious line, “This is America.”Ī former coworker, Rick Christenson, told The Seattle Times: “He was a quiet guy. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt.” In the article, Russell described himself as laid back and easy going. “I was dead set against it.” Their business contained a sign that read, “I have loved you with an everlasting love. “Our first date, he kind of cornered me into it,” Hannah Russell said to the site. “Hannah and Beebo met at a Campus Crusade for Christ gathering at Southwestern Oregon Community College last year,” the site reported. He was always smiling.”Ī 2012 article in the World described how Russell met his wife. Never knew he was fighting a battle non of us knew about. Richard Russell, Who Spent Time in Alaska, Was Religious & Told Air Traffic Controllers He Was ‘Broken’Ī friend wrote on Facebook, “So heart broken…he was such a kind person to me. (If you need help, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-80.)ġ. On social media, Richard Russell used the name “Beebo Russell.” Although authorities have not released his name, The Seattle Times identified the man as Richard Russell. The incident led to a dramatic and tragic night on August 10, 2018, as aircraft were grounded at Sea-Tac while fighter jets followed the man and air traffic controllers tried unsuccessfully to help him land the aircraft. The man, known as “Rich” in air traffic control audio and dubbed the “sky king” on Twitter, broke hearts on social media as people followed the unauthorized flight before it came to a fatal end. Richard Russell, who dreamed of being in the military and once ran a bakery with his wife, was identified as the suicidal airport ground services worker who stole an airplane from Sea-Tac International Airport and took it on a dramatic unauthorized flight, where it was chased by fighter planes as he attempted “stunts” in the air before the plane crashed. Richard Russell, AKA Rich, the man who took the Sea-Tac plane and crashed it.
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