Listen: Man Hijacks Empty Horizon Airlines Plane from Sea-Tac Airport Before Crashing
An unidentified 29-year-old man on Friday hijacked a Horizon Air plane from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington, crashing near Ketron Island, ABC News reports.
The official Twitter account of Alaska Airlines, which owns Horizon Air, confirmed the “unauthorized take-off” of a Horizon Air Q400. “We believe there are no passengers on board,” the airline wrote. According to the Associated Press, airport officials said the incident involved an airline employee.
We are aware of an incident involving an unauthorized take-off of a Horizon Air Q400. We believe there are no passe… https://t.co/uThTnUX24X— Alaska Airlines (@Alaska Airlines) 1533961001
Some dude stole a plane from #Seatac (Allegedly), did a loop-the-loop, ALMOST crashed into #ChambersBay, then cross… https://t.co/sicI8JA9Wl— bmbdgty (@bmbdgty) 1533960359
Pierce County public information officer Ed Troyer wrote on Twitter the unidentified male “was doing stunts in air,” and that a “lack of flying skills caused crash into Island.”
USAF KC-135R 63-8021 GASMN04 scrambled from Fairchild at 0425z to support F15's ROCK41 & ROCK42 currently over Seat… https://t.co/gpz9dc3JGV— Aircraft Spots (@Aircraft Spots) 1533964380
Stolen horizon airplane crashed into Ketron island. Preliminary info is that a mechanic from unknown airlines stole… https://t.co/BIOpJ81Rpn— Pierce Co Sheriff (@Pierce Co Sheriff) 1533962218
Male is confirmed a suicidal male. Acted alone he is 29 year old Pierce county residence . We are working back ground on him now.— Pierce Co Sheriff (@Pierce Co Sheriff) 1533963275
Follow this thread for official info. This is not a terrorist incident. Confirmed info .. this is a single suicide… https://t.co/yaYysOKspn— Pierce Co Sheriff (@Pierce Co Sheriff) 1533963418
FBI is communicating w/local/state/federal partners, but it's too early for us to put out details on the evolving s… https://t.co/DJhQ4iQw19— FBI Seattle (@FBI Seattle) 1533964327
Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of The Air Current, posted audio of the call between the male and air control before the plane crashed.
I had my recorder running next to the open frequency. This was recorded at around 8:47 PM PDT. https://t.co/nfABBnRVIE— Jon Ostrower (@Jon Ostrower) 1533963354
Journalist Jimmy Thompson also pulled clips of the radio call between the hijacker and ground officials. Listen below:
Listen below:
I'm listening through the archive of the radio chatter on the #seatac hijacking. Below are some of the clips. https://t.co/ziBAYv7cgn— Jimmy Thomson (@Jimmy Thomson) 1533961232
Here he is realizing how quickly he is burning through fuel. https://t.co/ftnpowm9D4— Jimmy Thomson (@Jimmy Thomson) 1533961971
Looks like that didn't upload correctly. Here is the clip of him asking for help getting the cabin pressurized so h… https://t.co/k5dbuE8BUy— Jimmy Thomson (@Jimmy Thomson) 1533963186
This clip appears to be just a fragment of a conversation that was stepped on by other traffic, but he is saying so… https://t.co/O1k7vhlb70— Jimmy Thomson (@Jimmy Thomson) 1533963374
He sounds very emotional here. #seatac https://t.co/eZAuuC5RNa— Jimmy Thomson (@Jimmy Thomson) 1533963743
"Nah, I'm a white guy." #seatac https://t.co/OVtJqphgqo— Jimmy Thomson (@Jimmy Thomson) 1533964570
Here, he asks for the coordinates of the mother orca that has been spotted in Puget Sound with her dead calf over t… https://t.co/KMN3Lmy71i— Jimmy Thomson (@Jimmy Thomson) 1533965392
Here he asks about the weather in the nearby Olympic mountains. Thanks to @petersterne for spotting this one. https://t.co/ccmZGpX1vy— Jimmy Thomson (@Jimmy Thomson) 1533965918
Here someone calling himself captain Bill tries to talk him into landing. #seatac Thanks @jackhauen for finding thi… https://t.co/IiL7nw7Ms1— Jimmy Thomson (@Jimmy Thomson) 1533966317
