As a former airline pilot, I was chilled listening to the recorded Air Traffic Control (ATC) transcripts of Richard Russell, the 29-year-old Horizon Air employee who stole an empty Bombardier Q-400 and took it on a flight to nowhere.
An airline employee's unauthorized takeoff from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport before dying in a crash will likely prompt a major review of already tightly controlled industry security measures, experts said Saturday.
Before he crashed and died, the airline worker who authorities said stole and flew a passenger plane in the Seattle area Friday had a wide-ranging discussion with air traffic control -- at one point expressing confidence in his flying ability because "I've played some video games."
The Horizon Air plane stolen from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is a Q400 Bombardier turboprop.
