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ANCHOR (KTUU) – The FBI discovered that a former Wasilla man who had ordered a Horizon Air plane at the Seattle-Tacoma airport in August had acted alone and that his final descent into an island off the coast of Washington was intentional.
In a press release on Friday, the FBI office in Seattle announced the end of its investigation into the crash and that 28-year-old Richard Russell died in the crash and worked alone, no federal charges will result from the theft .
The FBI established a chronology of events on the day of the crash and stated that it found no reason for Russell's actions.
Based on the aircraft's flight recorder data, the FBI found that even though there was a "significant lateral slip" in the aircraft at the last minute of flight, it was not out of control and that the final descent seemed to be intentional. "If the pilot had wanted to avoid any impact with the ground, he had the time and energy to pull the column back, lift his nose and start a climb," the FBI wrote.
The plane crashed on Ketron Island, in Pierce County, Washington State, southwest of the Sea-Tac Airport.
The FBI also listened to the cockpit voice recorder and found no other significant sound outside of Russell's radio communications. They found that he had made no further phone calls from the cockpit nor made any other statement indicating a motive.
Coworkers, friends and Russell's family were interviewed. These interviews and a review of SMS exchanged with Russell failed to identify a link with a broader plot, the FBI said. Nothing in his personal life left a clear motive either.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner found that Russell had died as a result of the traumatic injuries caused by the accident. His death was declared suicide.
The report states that Russell does not appear to have violated security measures or protocols until he takes the plane. Some of the actions he took to remove the aircraft were actions for which he had been trained, and investigators found that Russell's Internet searches on flight instruction videos .
The chronology of Russell's actions that day was presented as follows:
14h36 – Russell arrives at the Seattle Port of Seattle employee safety checkpoint at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for his shift
14h38 – Russell clears control of employees' security checkpoints, without any anomalies
19h15 – Russell arrives in a tow vehicle at Cargo 1, at the north end of Sea-Tac airfield
19h19 – Russell climbs inside the aircraft Horizon Air Q400 # N449QX
19h22 – Russell starts the startup sequence of the plane and the propellers start to spin
19h27 – Russell leaves the plane and uses a towing vehicle to rotate the plane towards the aerodrome
19h28 – Russell gets back in the plane
19h32 – The plane is away from its parked location
19h33 – The plane takes off from the airport
20h46 – The FDR data indicate the end of the flight, which investigators know as the crash of the aircraft on Ketron Island in Pierce County, Washington State.
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