First, we had the guy who blew himself up with an explosive belt on the football/soccer field in Belgium, and now a guy has stolen a plane from Sea-Tac, apparently for a joy ride, and goes down on an island.
Here’s what we KNOW:
- His name was Rich and he was a 29 year-old airport employee–a mechanic–at the Seattle-Tacoma airport-not a pilot
- He stole an empty Alaska Air Horizon Q400 twin engine turbo prop on Friday evening, Pacific Time
- All air traffic at Sea-Tac was immediately shut down
- He buzzed Mount Rainier, returned to the coast, did a loop-the-loop and talked about doing a couple of barrel rolls but wasn’t clear on how to land
- The military scrambled two F-15s as escort
- An explosion was seen/heard on Ketron Island (220 acres) and initially it wasn’t clear if a jet shot the plane down or if it simply crashed; now we hear the plane simply crashed
- A forest fire began on site and they dispatched firefighters to get it under control; the first by helicopter, the second via ferry.
Some folks did pick up on the “Q400” detail, and eventually we may learn of the significance of this event if it is connected to anything. Honestly, it sounded like he was living out some fantasy he may have had about being a pilot.
He said he played video games, “so I know what I’m doin’ a little bit”. Bingo. He was having difficulty separating reality from fantasy. A little psychotic. We’ve had discussions about this before.
Video games are dangerous and this fellow suddenly snapped for some reason. He had the presence of mind to apologize to his friends, family, and those who care about him, and he didn’t want to mess up anyone’s day, but clearly didn’t think his actions through.
Here’s a little clip of the chatter between Rich and tower. It sounds as though they were waiting for a pilot experienced with the Q400 to try to talk this guy down safely.
Well, Rich, not sure what your angle was, but you definitely went out in a blaze of glory—in your eyes. It’s very painful for your loved ones.
One of our Canadian independent journalists followed this story as soon as it happened, gathering social media facts before mainstream was reporting on it, and provided a number of details from varied sources, including some on location at Sea-Tac.
It’s usually best to get details when they first come out, before they’re corrupted, slanted and embellished by the corporate media.
https://youtu.be/u3nVDcIQmyE
This MSM report says the jets were simply escorts, and “something” caused an explosion when the plane crashed. A forest fire began on the island and they dispatched two groups of firefighters to get it under control.
There is additional audio here of the tower conversation with Rich, more video of his risky maneuvers, interviews with passengers and witnesses and the picture emerges more fully. It’s a fairly balanced discussion but they don’t touch on the video games aspect, which I believe is key, they merely stated he obviously had mental issues.
In the audios, Rick sounds like a little kid on a lark. I don’t believe he was “suicidal” as some are saying; he was disconnected from reality and while he thought he might get life in prison for such actions, he didn’t seem concerned about it at all. Consequences weren’t really top of mind; he just acted in the moment—like he was playing a game. ~ BP
I subscribe to your site and read it regularly. Where I may agree with your broader comment about video games, in this case I think there’s a little more to it. My husband is a pilot and my stepson is studying to be an aviation mechanic. They use flight simulation “games” that are so realistic that you can, over time, achieve incredible flying capability. My stepson downloaded the Dash-8 just this morning and with no prior experience on that aircraft was able to take off, fly and do some of the same maneuvers Rich did. And just like Rich, he managed to do the hard left bank and the loop-the-loop, but instead of being able to pull the nose up like Rich did over water, my stepson crashed. But this was also his first time out on this aircraft. My point is these are not games. They are highly sophisticated simulators, down to the minute detail. Rich wasn’t just some delusional kid. There’s more to this story, I’d bet.
Good point, thanks for the perspective, gailgirl. It was a very odd event and we will probably hear more.
Reblogged on roserambles.org