Plane stolen by ‘suicidal’ airline worker crashed as fighter jets pursued it outside Seattle

wolfie138 said:
so you think stealing a plane and performing aerobatics in a craft that's not designed for it isn't crazy?
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Well the fact he knew considerably more about this aircraft than most isn't in question. I have read a few bits and bobs about this on various sites and many experienced pilots say that unless he's quite familiar with the craft, there's no way he's getting it off the ground. On top of that, you'd be surprised at how much stress you can put on a commercial airliner. Granted it'll reduce the lifespan of the airframe but aerobatics aren't out of the question. Just look at vids like this:


That all being said, this guy seemed to just be a lost soul with a bit more knowledge of an aircraft than most and decided to go out in style, and from what I've been reading, he was hoping that his incident would result in higher paid fares for ground staff. I knew someone on ground staff in Holland years ago, says it was the most depressing, hateful, stressful job he'd ever done. He was out there on the concrete all year round doing crap shifts during daytime, nighttime, christmas days, etc. Rain, sleet, hail, snow, made no difference, the aircraft still needed to be loaded up. On top of that he earned minimum wage and literally watched people every single day of his life going on holiday and enjoying life whilst he stood there struggling to pay his bills. I can certainly see why a job like this could drive someone to do what he did.
 
he probably played flight simulators and read about how to make the planes fly.

I doubt it was a spur of the moment thing to steal a plane with no idea of what hes doing.
 
Diddums said:
Well the fact he knew considerably more about this aircraft than most isn't in question. I have read a few bits and bobs about this on various sites and many experienced pilots say that unless he's quite familiar with the craft, there's no way he's getting it off the ground. On top of that, you'd be surprised at how much stress you can put on a commercial airliner. Granted it'll reduce the lifespan of the airframe but aerobatics aren't out of the question. Just look at vids like this:


That all being said, this guy seemed to just be a lost soul with a bit more knowledge of an aircraft than most and decided to go out in style, and from what I've been reading, he was hoping that his incident would result in higher paid fares for ground staff. I knew someone on ground staff in Holland years ago, says it was the most depressing, hateful, stressful job he'd ever done. He was out there on the concrete all year round doing crap shifts during daytime, nighttime, christmas days, etc. Rain, sleet, hail, snow, made no difference, the aircraft still needed to be loaded up. On top of that he earned minimum wage and literally watched people every single day of his life going on holiday and enjoying life whilst he stood there struggling to pay his bills. I can certainly see why a job like this could drive someone to do what he did.
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You should've seen the display put on at Duxford a few years back by a crazy South African Airlines pilot in his 747-400. :D


Was mental seeing such a large aircraft perform like that at such low altitude.
 
wolfie138 said:
so you think stealing a plane and performing aerobatics in a craft that's not designed for it isn't crazy?
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Just a note, a barrel roll is pretty much the least dangerous maneuver going and all aircraft are designed for it. Back in the 1950's the first demonstration of the Boeing 707 (Boeing's entry to jet travel) included a couple of barrel roles as it's only a 1G maneuver and safer than a tight turn. The reason they haven't been done in demos since then is because execs decided that images of their passenger jets rolling upside down weren't helpful when trying to sell them for public aviation lol.
 
ubersonic said:
Just a note, a barrel roll is pretty much the least dangerous maneuver going and all aircraft are designed for it. Back in the 1950's the first demonstration of the Boeing 707 (Boeing's entry to jet travel) included a couple of barrel roles as it's only a 1G maneuver and safer than a tight turn. The reason they haven't been done in demos since then is because execs decided that images of their passenger jets rolling upside down weren't helpful when trying to sell them for public aviation lol.
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But didn't he do a Loop the Loop or what ever you call it and not just a simple barrel roll..
 
chaparral said:
But didn't he do a Loop the Loop or what ever you call it and not just a simple barrel roll..
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but the planes probably get more stress when they are taking off and landing in a crosswind.

he didn't have much fuel, 0 passengers, probably no luggage or cargo on board.

I doubt it was dangerous for the plane
 
Diddums said:
Well the fact he knew considerably more about this aircraft than most isn't in question. I have read a few bits and bobs about this on various sites and many experienced pilots say that unless he's quite familiar with the craft, there's no way he's getting it off the ground. On top of that, you'd be surprised at how much stress you can put on a commercial airliner. Granted it'll reduce the lifespan of the airframe but aerobatics aren't out of the question. Just look at vids like this:


That all being said, this guy seemed to just be a lost soul with a bit more knowledge of an aircraft than most and decided to go out in style, and from what I've been reading, he was hoping that his incident would result in higher paid fares for ground staff. I knew someone on ground staff in Holland years ago, says it was the most depressing, hateful, stressful job he'd ever done. He was out there on the concrete all year round doing crap shifts during daytime, nighttime, christmas days, etc. Rain, sleet, hail, snow, made no difference, the aircraft still needed to be loaded up. On top of that he earned minimum wage and literally watched people every single day of his life going on holiday and enjoying life whilst he stood there struggling to pay his bills. I can certainly see why a job like this could drive someone to do what he did.
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Jeeeeze at that takeoff.

The power those engines produce is insane.....

Edit: Yeah also agree with the wages part..... it's a terrible job if you think about it and you are paid ****.
 
As mentioned though, there is minimum wage of $15 in Seattle and lived well outside in the burbs so I doubt money was the problem in this case. He seemed to lead quite a good life based on his travel video. Who knows what was going through his mind, poor guy.
 
If he had FSX and Majestics Dash 8 Q400 add on I reckon he could have picked up enough to learn how to start the aircraft and take it off. It is a pretty comprehensive addon, it's one of my favourites along with PMDG stuff.

Shame he decided to end his life that way, it waste of a nice aircraft but at least he had a blast and didn't take anyone else with him. RIP fella.
 
Its terribly sad. And undoubtedly this guy put other's lives at significant risk.

I flew the Q400 for 7 years, have 4000 hours on it and for the last 3 years on it, was a trainer, teaching others to fly it.

Its not a particularly easy aircraft to fly. The degree of skill this guy showed is, in my opinion, nothing short of astounding given his complete lack of any kind of training.

He appeared to fly a split S, rolling the aircraft inverted and pulling a half loop, rolling out just above the water - I very much doubt I could do that.

In my industry you occasionally come across people who are naturally gifted pilots - most of us have to work hard to attain the skills to fly professionally, I know I did.

I suspect that this guy would have counted amongst the small number of us who are naturally gifted, had he been a pilot.

As I say, its terribly sad and a terrible waste of a life.
 
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