The airline employee who stole a plane from the Seattle airport cracked jokes, complimented air traffic control, and apologized for making a fuss before fatally crashing on to an island

Youtube/Handout via REUTERS

• Airline ground agent Richard Russell stole an empty Horizon Air plane on Friday night from Sea-Tac International Airport and fatally crashed into a small island in the Puget Sound.
• Officials have said that the 29-year-old was not a licensed pilot, but had clearance to be among aircraft.
• The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed on Sunday that Russell had died in the fiery wreckage. 
• Questions still remain over whether the crash was deliberate or accidental. 
• The Seattle FBI office said Sunday that it had recovered the flight data recorder and components of the cockpit voice recorder from the Horizon plane.

He cracked jokes, complimented the professional demeanor of an air traffic controller and apologized for making a fuss.

But the friendly tone of a 29-year-old airport worker who stole a commercial plane Friday night, performing acrobatic stunts before the fatal plunge into a thick island forest, belied his desperate actions.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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SEE ALSO: The airline employee who stole a plane from the Seattle airport and fatally crashed onto a small island was not a licensed pilot

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