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Somebody has stolen a Horizon Air plane at SEA

Gil Bang

By Gil Bang
in Daily Texan

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EuroHorn

EuroHorn 3272

Posted
Posted
28 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Dont planes need a tractor to push them back? howd he pull that one off?

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Latest developments

Airline and Seattle airport officials revealed the following at a news conference Saturday:
-- The employee worked for Horizon Air -- and was credentialed to be in secure areas at the airport -- for three and a half years, said Brad Tilden, CEO of Alaska Air Group, which owns Horizon Air.
-- He passed a series of background checks to gain his position, as he didn't have any criminal convictions.
-- Airline officials believe the worker was in uniform and worked a shift Friday, Tilden said.
-- The plane had been parked in a maintenance area and was not scheduled for a passenger flight, Tilden said.
-- The worker had no purpose to be at that plane Friday evening "other than ... what he did do," Tilden said.
-- Besides his other duties, he was qualified to tow aircraft, said Gary Beck, Horizon Air's president and chief executive officer.
-- While stealing the plane, the worker used "a pushback tractor to rotate the aircraft 180 degrees so he could then taxi the aircraft out onto the active surfaces," said Mike Ehl, the airport's director of operations.
-- Officials don't believe the worker had a pilot's license. But they don't know how we knew to fly the plane, and even starting the plane's engines would have required specialized knowledge, Beck said. "It would be a series of switches and levers ... to start the engine. We don't know how he learned to do that," Beck said.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/11/us/plane-crash-unauthorized-takeoff/index.html

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Loco

Loco 3754

Posted
Posted

A different time, but I went to high school with a kid who stole airplanes every fucking weekend just to fly around.  I thought he was full of shit till I watched him jump the fence, prep the plane and take off....   I was freaked the fuck out...   he'd fly to Tampa or Jacksonville and just grab another plane home...   did it for 6 months that I know of...and then one day he wasn't in school, and I never saw him again...  /csb

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ImissWallyPryor

ImissWallyPryor 9046

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, Loco said:

A different time, but I went to high school with a kid who stole airplanes every fucking weekend just to fly around.  I thought he was full of shit till I watched him jump the fence, prep the plane and take off....   I was freaked the fuck out...   he'd fly to Tampa or Jacksonville and just grab another plane home...   did it for 6 months that I know of...and then one day he wasn't in school, and I never saw him again...  /csb

Have you ever looked up his name for criminal records or obituary? 

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18034

Posted
Posted
A different time, but I went to high school with a kid who stole airplanes every fucking weekend just to fly around.  I thought he was full of shit till I watched him jump the fence, prep the plane and take off....   I was freaked the fuck out...   he'd fly to Tampa or Jacksonville and just grab another plane home...   did it for 6 months that I know of...and then one day he wasn't in school, and I never saw him again...  /csb


There was a Rolling Stone story about a kid doing that. IIRC, it was in the PNW.
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Loco

Loco 3754

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

 


There was a Rolling Stone story about a kid doing that. IIRC, it was in the PNW.

 

Nope South Florida....  The smartest stupid kid I ever met.  I did some shit, but when he taxied out and took off, I was shook.  He tried to talk me into coming with him, but even young Loco was like "fuck that shit, I'm out"

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bmbmd

bmbmd 1027

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Loco said:

A different time, but I went to high school with a kid who stole airplanes every fucking weekend just to fly around.  I thought he was full of shit till I watched him jump the fence, prep the plane and take off....   I was freaked the fuck out...   he'd fly to Tampa or Jacksonville and just grab another plane home...   did it for 6 months that I know of...and then one day he wasn't in school, and I never saw him again...  /csb

A guy I trained with caught his wife with another man. He drove himself to the local airport, took off in his plane, and was never seen again. Ever. Csb 

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Homesickhorn

Homesickhorn 2211

Posted
Posted
The Ferry from Steilacoom only goes to Anderson and Ketron Islands.   It's not like it can make landfall on some deserted island without a boat ramp.
 
As for a previous request...   This was the last picture I took before I moved back to Houston in 2010.   Sitting on the patio of the Grill at the to of the course by the clubhouse.  Was drinking a Manny's Pale Ale and taking in one last sunset over the Olympics.   He crashed a few miles off to the left.
Why the fuck did I move back to Houston?
 
30116003888_a518f012d9_b.jpg
 
 


Manny’s. Fucking hell, I’d forgotten about Manny’s Pale. Damn, I’m getting old as fuck.

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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 19229

Posted
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On 8/11/2018 at 6:57 AM, LongestHorn said:

Commander of the 62nd at Lewis proposed mid-air capture/recovery of the stolen aircraft with a C-17, but it was deemed too risky.

 

62d_AW_C-17_loading_Army_personnel_from_

 

 

Hopefully said "Commander of the 62nd at Lewis" has been relieved of duties already.  That sounds like something out of a damn Bugs Bunny cartoon.

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Homercles

Homercles 10206

Posted
Posted

I watch YouTube videos all the time on starting different planes from a cold and dark state. I bet there’s one on a Q400...battery switch on, start the APU, open up bleed air, turn on a starter, at the right N2 open a fuel valve, turn on some hydraulics and generators, lights, etc. Even if he’d never done it before it’s not secret knowledge.

 

Edit: like this

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Bobby_Batronic

Bobby_Batronic 1994

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Homercles said:

I watch YouTube videos all the time on starting different planes from a cold and dark state. I bet there’s one on a Q400...battery switch on, start the APU, open up bleed air, turn on a starter, at the right N2 open a fuel valve, turn on some hydraulics and generators, lights, etc. Even if he’d never done it before it’s not secret knowledge.

 

Edit: like this

 

Q400 is pretty much the pinnacle of  airline turboprops. It’s probably shockingly easy and automated. Especially if you skip after start checklists and procedures, and just want to start it and get it airborne. 

Edited by Bobby_Batronic
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Homercles

Homercles 10206

Posted
Posted
Q400 is pretty much the pinnacle of  airline turboprops. It’s probably shockingly easy and automated. Especially if you skip after start checklists and procedures, and just want to start it and get it airborne. 

 

Someone noted he had flaps extended at TO.

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Assman

Assman 1830

Posted
Posted

I really want to know if he taxied all the way to an active runway or just used whatever taxiway was in front of him to takeoff.  Finding a usable piece of concrete for a takeoff roll without hitting another plane or going off into the dirt is more impressive than the shitty barrel roll.

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MNLonghornFUKM

MNLonghornFUKM 8823

Posted
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33 minutes ago, Assman said:

I really want to know if he taxied all the way to an active runway or just used whatever taxiway was in front of him to takeoff.  Finding a usable piece of concrete for a takeoff roll without hitting another plane or going off into the dirt is more impressive than the shitty barrel roll.

thats what Im thinking too. The fuck kind of maneuvering did this guy do just to get away from the concourse. and to take off on a runway which Im sure he had no clue was being used for landing or take offs and hit no planes is a godsend. 

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NorthLoop

NorthLoop 14254

Posted
Posted
17 minutes ago, HornsOverIthaca said:

Thank god no one was hurt.

But, why be “the guy who stole a plane and crashed it” when you could be “the guy who stole a plane then got turned into confetti by an AMRAAM missile fired from an F-15.”

I think the barrel roll sealed his legacy 

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Gil Bang

Gil Bang 26058

Posted
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Posted
2 hours ago, Incredulity said:

Ironically he worked in Seatac home of the highest minimum wage in the country $15.64

As usual, you're not fully informed.

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/some-airport-workers-still-earn-less-than-minimum-wage-as-sea-tac-law-leaves-a-confusing-patchwork/

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Bobby_Batronic

Bobby_Batronic 1994

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Assman said:

I really want to know if he taxied all the way to an active runway or just used whatever taxiway was in front of him to takeoff.  Finding a usable piece of concrete for a takeoff roll without hitting another plane or going off into the dirt is more impressive than the shitty barrel roll.

Catch any major airport between pushes and it’s surprisingly easy to get in and out. 

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Incredulity

Incredulity 11684

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Gil Bang said:

As usual, you're not fully informed.

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/some-airport-workers-still-earn-less-than-minimum-wage-as-sea-tac-law-leaves-a-confusing-patchwork/

Counterintuitively, the reason McGee can legally pay less is that its workforce is represented by the International Association of Machinists (IAM).

The ordinance has an exemption that specifically allows a union collective-bargaining agreement to waive the law.

 

The Machinists union did just that in its contract with McGee.

 

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Bobby_Batronic

Bobby_Batronic 1994

Posted
Posted
31 minutes ago, Assman said:

Well yeah, if you're a qualified pilot that knows how and where to taxi. 

There are only two parallel taxiways at SeaTac heading North, and all of the runways are on the same side of the field. It’s, not like O’Hare. 

Leave the terminal, turn right, and turn left at the end. It isn’t hard. 

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