Author Topic: Aircraft mechanic steals plane, crashes on Ketron Island  (Read 177 times)

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Offline Omni

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Aircraft mechanic steals plane, crashes on Ketron Island
« on: August 11, 2018, 01:40:58 am »
Hey Wilbur, I'm sure you caught the video. This guy did a pretty nice loop, wingover etc. before he planted it. Looked like he was having fun.

  https://www.news1130.com/2018/08/10/crash-reported-after-plane-stolen-from-seattle-airport/

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Offline Omni

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Just heard a portion of the ATC tape of the discussion between Sea Tac tower and this "pilot". Sounded like this guy was having a hoot.

Offline Michael Hardner

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Sad though, he's probably dead now.  Mental illness again...

Offline Omni

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Sad though, he's probably dead now.  Mental illness again...

Yeah the tape of the chat with ATC, short as it is, made me thing the guy, while having fun, was a little off his rocker. I guess the good part is that he had the decency not to crash into a built up area and take others with him, which it seems he could have done had he chose to. I'm sure they will be chatting with his co workers and others to try to get a handle on what possessed him.

Offline Omni

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Just hearing more of the ATC tapes and it's eerie to listen to. Sounded to me like he was having a real good time while at the same time planning to end it all after his joy ride. I'll be interested to hear where/how he acquired his flying skills, as well of course some insightas  to why he did what he did.

Offline wilber

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No, I hadn't  seen it. Sad, it will be interesting to find out the whole story.
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline Omni

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I'm hearing now that they found a flight sim. software program on his laptop, but I wonder if something like that would give you the skills to be able to do what he did. I have one that's handy for practicing approaches but I wouldn't want to send somebody solo based entirely on that training.

Offline Queefer Sutherland

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This person sounds awesome.
"Nipples is one of the great minds of our time!" - Bubbermiley

Offline Omni

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He certainly went out in a blaze o' glory.

Offline Queefer Sutherland

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Didn't read where he was suicidal.  That's sad.  But yeah, if you're gonna go, go big.
"Nipples is one of the great minds of our time!" - Bubbermiley

Offline Omni

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Didn't read where he was suicidal.  That's sad.  But yeah, if you're gonna go, go big.

Some of his chat with ATC indicates he was suicidal.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/08/11/man-steals-plane-seattle-crash-audio-sot-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/seattle-plane-stolen-and-crashed/

Offline ?Impact

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I'm hearing now that they found a flight sim. software program on his laptop, but I wonder if something like that would give you the skills to be able to do what he did.

He didn't land.

If you are not worried about safety, then you could probably pick up a lot from a commercial sim program (depending on which one). I wouldn't want to fly with someone that only has that experience however.

Offline Omni

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He didn't land.

If you are not worried about safety, then you could probably pick up a lot from a commercial sim program (depending on which one). I wouldn't want to fly with someone that only has that experience however.

Well he did actually, land and they all eventually do. There's an old saying in the biz "we haven't left one up there yet". But his choice of landing procedure didn't require putting the landing gear down it seems. And yes I wouldn't want to be a passenger with a pilot who'd only flown their laptop, regardless of how realistic the software might be. However he did some nice barrel roles.

Offline wilber

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Another crash today at the Abbotsford Airshow. A visiting aircraft crashed on takeoff when leaving after the show. Looks like a DeHavilland Dragon Rapide.
Several people injured.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Dragon_Rapide
"Never trust a man without a single redeeming vice" WSC

Offline Omni

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Another crash today at the Abbotsford Airshow. A visiting aircraft crashed on takeoff when leaving after the show. Looks like a DeHavilland Dragon Rapide.
Several people injured.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Dragon_Rapide

Looks like he caught a gust just after take off and stuck a wing in the dirt.

https://globalnews.ca/video/4383300/abbotsford-airport-crash