When a Ground Agent Decides Airplane‑Taxi Solo
Picture this: it’s 8 p.m. at Seattle‑Tacoma International, the runway is empty except for a Bombardier Q400 turboprop doing the usual maintenance shuffle. Suddenly—who would’ve thought?—a Horizon Air ground service agent pulls the key to the cockpit, stokes the engines, and takes off like a hidden movie hero. No pilot’s license in the bag, no orders from air traffic control, just a wild, one‑man flight that ends on Ketron Island about an hour later.
The Mystery in the Crashes
- The 29‑year‑old was reported suicidal and apparently went it alone.
- The crash was a result of “doing stunts in the air or lack of flying skills,” according to the Pierce County Sheriff.
- No passengers were aboard; the aircraft was entirely empty.
- In the scramble, two F‑15 jets from Portland air base swooped in, but their involvement ended at the chase—not the crash.
Officials Trying to Piece It Together
The FAA, FBI, and NTSB are looking at every detail. Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden said, “We’re working to find out everything we possibly can about what happened.” Meanwhile the FBI tweeted that they’re piecing together a complete picture with state, local, and federal partners.
What We Still Don’t Know
- How did the employee manage to taxi the plane and jump from the controls without clearance?
- Was there a technical glitch that let him get to the cockpit?
- Did the aircraft’s automation do something unexpected?
Ground Damage & Safety
Fire crews tackled the blaze on Ketron Island, and luckily nobody on the ground was hurt. The island—about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of the airport—is sparsely populated, so the incident felt more like a surprise field day than a terrorist plot.
Why Everything Looks “Insane” (And Why You’ll Chat About It for Weeks)
Ben Schaechter, a fellow passenger on a taxiing plane, tweeted, “Okay this insane. A pilot on the plane in front of us just went rogue and took off on an empty plane bypassing orders from the tower.” That line captured the absurdity that left everyone on the runways taking a breath. And when the F‑15s followed the rogue jet down, it felt like a scene from a high‑stakes action movie—except the only heroes were the grounded crews keeping people safe.
Final Thoughts
In a world where flight safety is second to nothing, this bizarre incident reminds us that sometimes, the most shocking things happen when an ordinary employee decides to go on a one‑man adventure. Whether the motive was truly suicidal or something else entirely, the trail of marks left on the runway, the scramble of F‑15s, and the empty cargo‑airplane that sputtered onto a quiet island are all stories adding up to a flight you’ll hear about in coffee shops and Twitter scrolls.
