An airline employee stole an unoccupied passenger plane from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, flew for about an hour, attempted to do stunts, was chased by fighter jets and ultimately crashed to his death on Friday night.
The 29-year-old ground service agent, being described as a “suicidal male,” spoke to air traffic controller saying:
I’ve got a lot of people that care about me, and it’s going to disappoint them to hear that I did this.
I would like to apologize to each and every one of them. Just a broken guy, got a few screws loose, I guess. Never really knew it until now.
He also declined the air traffic controller’s attempt to help fly the plane saying:
Nah, I mean, I don’t need that much help. I’ve played some video games before.
Listen to the audio below courtesy of Buzz Feed.
Within minutes of the man stealing the plane the military deployed two F-15 jets from Oregon causing a sonic boom.
Some folks thought it was a bomb.
Confirming sonic boom was Air Force and not explosion as originally reported.
— Pierce Co Sheriff (@PierceSheriff) August 11, 2018
As you can imagine residents were confused and scared to see a plane flying so low over their homes.
It became crystal clear to them that something was terribly wrong when the airline employee, who was flying a 76-seat Horizon Air turboprop plane, began attempting stunts and the fighter jets showed up!
https://twitter.com/cowboyjslim/status/1028132965526560768
After about an hour of madness, the unauthorized pilot crashed the plane in a wooded area on Ketron Island in Pierce County.
Peep more tweets and video taken during the incident below.
I want to thank the Air National Guard from Washington and Oregon for scrambling jets to keep Washingtonians safe. Those pilots are trained for moments like tonight and showed they are ready and capable.
— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) August 11, 2018
Some dude stole a plane from #Seatac (Allegedly), did a loop-the-loop, ALMOST crashed into #ChambersBay, then crossed in front of our party, chased by fighter jets and subsequently crashed. Weird times. pic.twitter.com/Ra4LcIhwfU
— bmbdgty (@drbmbdgty) August 11, 2018
Watches con air once #SeaTac #Seattle pic.twitter.com/bzIMYQIZX7
— carrie (@actualcarrie) August 11, 2018
The incident is still under investigation.