2018 Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 incident

The aircraft was a De Havilland Dash 8-400, owned by Horizon Air (and operating for Alaska Airlines) MSN 4410, registered as N449QX, and built by Bombardier Aviation in 2012. It was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney PW150A engines. It landed at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport at 13:35 local time the afternoon of the incident, after an in-service flight from Victoria, British Columbia. It was not scheduled to fly again that day. ==Incident==

The aircraft was stolen from Plane Cargo 1 at the north end of Sea–Tac Airport In response, two McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagles of the Oregon Air National Guard's 142nd Fighter Wing under the command of NORAD were scrambled at around 20:15 local time from Portland Air National Guard Base to intercept it. Both were armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and reached supersonic speeds, which generated sonic booms on the way to the Puget Sound area. A KC-135R Stratotanker refueling tanker was also scrambled from Fairchild Air Force Base to support the F-15 flight. Seattle–Tacoma air traffic control (ATC) maintained radio contact with the occupant. The transmissions were quickly recorded and posted on social media websites. The pilot said he was a "broken guy ... got a few screws loose, I guess. Never really knew it until now." When ATC suggested he land the plane at Joint Base Lewis–McChord, the occupant refused: "Those guys will rough me up if I try and land there. I think I might mess something up there, too. I wouldn't want to do that." He asked ATC if he could get a job as a pilot with Alaska Airlines if he successfully landed the aircraft. ATC said, "they would give you a job doing anything if you could pull this off", to which he replied, "Yeah right! Nah, I'm a white guy." He spoke of wanting to do "a couple maneuvers to see what [the aircraft] can do", and requested the coordinates of an orca that had been brought to national attention, saying, "I want to go see that guy." He stated that he did not want to hurt anyone, and in the final minutes of the communication apologized to his friends and family. When an air traffic controller requested he land the plane after this maneuver, he said: "I don't know. I don't want to. I was kind of hoping that was gonna be it, you know?" The two F-15s attempted to direct the aircraft toward the Pacific Ocean and did not fire at it. The Q400 ultimately crashed at 20:43 local time Delayed by the need to wait to catch the Steilacoom–Anderson Island ferry, firefighters from West Pierce Fire and Rescue and other nearby departments arrived on the island about an hour and a half after the crash, where they then contended with the island's thick brush. The fire burned a area, No injuries were reported to residents of the sparsely populated island even though the crash site was close to at least one cabin, which was occupied at the time of the incident. ==Investigation==

The Pierce County Sheriff's Office thanked the public for its accurate information and acknowledged on August 11 that federal agencies would lead the investigation, primarily the Seattle office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It described the perpetrator, identified as 28-year-old Richard Russell, as suicidal and said his actions did not constitute a "terrorist incident". On August 12, the FBI said that it had recovered the flight data recorder along with components of the cockpit voice recorder. The equipment was sent to the National Transportation Safety Board for processing. On November 9, the FBI stated that it had completed its investigation. Terrorism was ruled out, and Russell was found to have acted alone. The final descent at Ketron Island was determined to be intentional, and suicide was listed as the manner of death. The FBI stated, "Interviews with work colleagues, friends, and family—and review of text messages exchanged with Russell during the incident—identified no information suggesting the theft of the aircraft was related to wider criminal activity or terrorist ideology. Although investigators received information regarding Russell's background, possible stressors, and personal life, no element provided a clear motivation for Russell's actions." ==Richard Russell==

Richard Russell was a Horizon Air ground service agent from Sumner, Washington. He had been part of a tow team, which repositions aircraft on the airport apron, for about four years. An operational supervisor for Horizon Air described Russell as "a quiet guy" who was "well liked by the other workers". Russell was born in Key West, Florida, and moved to Wasilla, Alaska, at the age of seven. From early childhood he was known as "Beebo" to his friends and family. He was a hard-hitting football fullback in high school, scoring six touchdowns in his senior year, after which he moved to North Dakota to join the football team at Valley City State University. He left for Southwestern Oregon Community College, where he met his wife at a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting. They married in 2012. Together, they started a bakery in North Bend, Oregon. They sold the bakery in 2015 so his wife could be closer to her family; they settled in Sumner, Washington, and Russell found employment with Horizon Air. He was an avid traveler and attended Washington State University Global Campus, majoring in social science. He had planned to seek a management position at Horizon Air or become a military officer after receiving his degree. He was active in his church and a leader in the local Christian youth ministry Young Life. During his conversation with air traffic control, Russell said he "[knew] what [he was] doing a little bit" because he had experience playing video games. Some co-workers said that Russell had probably trained himself to fly using amateur flight simulation software. == Aftermath ==

crash site in 2024 In the days after the crash, cleanup and recovery crews contracted by Alaska Airlines and its insurers removed debris from the island. , this cleanup effort was still ongoing, with pieces of aircraft wreckage still being located on the island after the first anniversary of the incident. Residents of the island bore some cleanup costs, and negotiations were initiated for their reimbursement by Alaska Airlines' insurers. The aircraft was worth $30 million, which was paid under the company's insurance policy "with no deductibles." == In popular culture ==

A film was later made about this incident that was released on April 14, 2026, titled #Skyking. The film was created in dedication to Richard Russell. ==See also==