Theft highlights air travel ‘insider threat’
WARNING OVER AIRPORT STAFF
THE theft of an empty plane by an airline worker who performed dangerous loops before crashing into an island in the US state of Washington has illustrated the potential perils of airport employees causing mayhem.
Video footage shows a 76-seater Horizon Air Q400 aircraft which was stolen from Sea-Tac International Airport carrying out large loops on Puget Sound near Seattle.
The flight lasted about 75 minutes, and ended when the pilot, named by sources as Richard Russell, crashed into the small island after being chased by military jets.
Erroll Southers, a former FBI agent and transportation security expert, said: “The greatest threat we have to aviation is the insider threat. Here we have an employee who was vetted to the level to have access to the aircraft and had a skill set proficient enough to take off with that plane.”
Mr Southers said the man could have caused mass destruction.
He said: “If he had the skill set to do loops with a plane like this, he certainly had the capacity to fly it into a building.”
Officials said the man had worked with Horizon for over three years, and had clearance to be among aircraft. To their knowledge, he was not a licensed pilot.
It is unclear how Mr Russell attained the skills to carry out loops in the aircraft. Ground service agents direct aircraft for takeoff and gate approach.