I know we have a few Pilot's here

[ralexa6808]

Plane crashes after 'unauthorized take-off' from SeaTac airport

Here is the video report:
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2018/...ke-off-from-seatac-airport-officials-say.html

I have two questions that were not addressed or acknowledged by the Media.

1. NORAD was able to dispatch and apparently intercept the aircraft with two Jet Fighters (no kudos to them for responding so quickly).

2. When you look at the video at 1:41 seconds just as the plane was going out of frame I think I saw a burst of flames from the starboard engine. One civilian reported that She saw the plane, then the fighter jets, then the plane crashed.

I'm not a conspiracy guy, but I do tend to question things I see or don't understand. Looks to me like something happened to that engine.
Any Pilot's here see what I saw? Is it possible it was shot down?

 

[Pascal]

If anything I am surprised it wasn’t shut down. If somebody is crazy enough to steal an aircraft who knows what they could do. I don’t see why authorities would try to cover up what would be legitimate action

I m also surprised that considering the terrorism threats and the technology levels, anyone with ramp access can fire up a commercial aircraft and take off. That is pretty scary.

 

[dottieshusband]

A lot of single and light twins I have flow have an ignition key, like a car. Most of the turboprops and jets, do not. Just a cabin door key. If you know how to light the fire, you too can be airborne! Apparently this guy was an AMT/A&P type that had knowledge and access.

 

[Scarlett]

We just flew on one of those Horizon turbo prop planes out of the same airport. They just sit there and there doors are really low and close to the ground so getting onboard would be pretty easy. They just use stairs not jetways. And the terminal where those planes park is way at the end of the airport and pretty isolated.

 

[oscarvan]

I am one of those pilots here.... (Started at PeopleExpress in 1986, Continental by buyout and now United by merger). As you can imagine we have a forum similar to this one at the company. There are quite a few of us that live in Seattle and are familiar with the airspace and airport, and a few more that fly military on weekends.

Taking out something that erratic, but slow, is actually not as easy as you think with a high speed fighter. And, you never know where your ordinance or the airplane is going to end up when it hits the ground. It is an absolute last resort. The consensus is that the fighters were watching him and would have done something had he headed for densely populated areas, but that he in fact augered it in himself.

EVERY accident has an eye witness that saw/heard and explosion and/or fireball whether it was there or not.

Yes, it's fairly easy to steal an airplane if you have ramp access and don't need a push back to have room in front of you. (As in if it were sitting at a jetway on a terminal) Start it and roll it out to the runway, up you go.

And, in the series "Someone craps their pants we all get to wear diapers" we are awaiting the FAA mandated "fix" which will do nothing but make life more complicated for us.

 

[luckydave215]

I've been a private pilot for many many years.
When I first started, your license would get you onto the ramp at any airport, even the biggies like O'hare and LAX, and no security guard would ever question your right to be there....you're an aviator!.

One key usually opened all Cessnas and one all Pipers, another for Beechcraft. So to fly most light aircraft you only needed three keys in your flight bag (most aircraft like Zlins, Extras, American Champion etc. didn't need a key to get in)
Then 911 happened and all of a sudden the ramp at even the small airports had fences around them with security gates, planes got re-keyed, and if you went somewhere new and wanted to rent a plane you had to show all kinds of ID instead of just your certificate as in the past, and you have to check out the keys at the FBO.
What do you think, after 911 so many things got more hassle to do - did the terrosists win?

 

[Pascal]

Keys were no big deal but back in the 80s during the drug war it was common to loop a hardened chain around the prop with a padlock