Plane’s flight recorder found

THE FBI has retrieved the flight data recorder and components of the cockpit voice recorder from an empty plane that was stolen by an airport worker in Seattle before being taken on an hour-long acrobatic joy ride, eventually crashing fatally into a forest.

Richard Russell, 29, a Horizon Air ground service agent, has been named as the airport worker who entered the Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft on Friday night in a maintenance area at Seattle-Tarcoma International Airport and took off.

He flew for about one hour, often erratically, before being killed when the plane crashed on Ketron Island in Puget Sound, about 40km to the southwest.

In the voice data recordings from the plane’s cockpit, Russell can be heard cracking jokes, complimenting the professional demeanour of an air traffic controller and apologising for making a fuss.

But Russell’s friendly tone belied his desperate actions.

“I think I’m going to try to do a barrel roll, and if that goes good I’ll go nose down and call it a night,” Russell said from the cockpit, according to a recording of his conversation with the controller.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed on Sunday that Russell had died in the fiery wreckage, adding whether the crash was deliberate or accidental is still unknown.

Questions are also being asked as to how nearly 17 years after the September 11 attacks, someone can simply take a passenger plane from a major US airport.

The Seattle FBI office said on Sunday that it had recovered the flight data recorder and components of the cockpit voice recorder from the plane with transport safety investigators processing the equipment.

As Russell took off tens of thousands of fans were gathering

(THE) EVENT IS GOING TO PUSH US TO LEARN WHAT WE CAN FROM THIS TRAGEDY SO THAT WE CAN ENSURE THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN

nearby for a sold-out Pearl Jam concert, indicating Russell could have inflicted vastly more damage had be been so inclined.

“Last night’s event is going to push us to learn what we can from this tragedy so that we can ensure this does not happen again at Alaska Air Group or at any other airline,” Brad Tilden, CEO of Alaska Airlines, said.

Russell’s responsibilities included towing and pushing aircraft for takeoff and gate approach. Authorities say he used a tractor to rotate the plane 180 degrees so that he could taxi toward a runway. It’s unclear if he had ever taken flight lessons.