Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
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Re: Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
#2[deleted]
Re: Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
#3> Mr. Russell stole a plane from the airport and flew it for about an hour before it crashed. (emphasis mine)
Wonder why Air National Guard's scrambled F-15s [0] didn't engage and bring the plane down before the individual commandeering the prop -- Mr. Russell -- brought the aircraft down with himself in the Ketron Island.
IIRC, the plane flew over several densely populated areas before going down, and I can imagine a thousand horrifically different ways this could have turned out.
[0] https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/08/11/f-15s-scrambl...
Re: Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
#4[deleted]
Re: Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
#5> Mr. Russell stole a plane from the airport and flew it for about an hour before it crashed. (emphasis mine) Wonder why Air National Guard's scrambled F-15s [0] didn't engage and bring the plane down before the individual commandeering the prop -- Mr. Russell -- brought the aircraft down with himself in the Ketron Island. IIRC, the plane flew over several densely populated areas before going down, and I can imagine…
From what I've read, the tower personnel were in communication with the individual. Perhaps they believed they could talk him down.
As far as shooting down the plane, I have no idea how possible that would have been without risking greater collateral damage. Perhaps it could have been done over the sound. But this incident comes to mind: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Palmdale
Re: Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
#6> Mr. Russell stole a plane from the airport and flew it for about an hour before it crashed. (emphasis mine) Wonder why Air National Guard's scrambled F-15s [0] didn't engage and bring the plane down before the individual commandeering the prop -- Mr. Russell -- brought the aircraft down with himself in the Ketron Island. IIRC, the plane flew over several densely populated areas before going down, and I can imagine…
Listen to the recording of ATC personnel talking to the rogue pilot. He's just a normal guy with a few screws loose.
I think they correctly assessed this man to be non-threatening to ground targets.
Now, if the guy was non-responsive or erratic or started making threats, I do expect that the F15s might have been used.
Re: Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
#7Q predicted this.
Re: Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
#8> Mr. Russell stole a plane from the airport and flew it for about an hour before it crashed. (emphasis mine) Wonder why Air National Guard's scrambled F-15s [0] didn't engage and bring the plane down before the individual commandeering the prop -- Mr. Russell -- brought the aircraft down with himself in the Ketron Island. IIRC, the plane flew over several densely populated areas before going down, and I can imagine…
Armchair General warning:
If you've seen the videos of the F-15s, you know that the stolen plane was definitely within engagement range [0]. It's pretty clear to me that the decision not to shoot down the plane was very intentional.
I agree that a rogue plane over a densely populated area is a nightmare scenario, but also consider that debris from a shot down plane and/or an air-to-air missile over a populated area could be quite bad or worse. Couple this with the fact that the hijacker was communicating with ATC and showed no hostile intent, and it makes sense that the plane was not shot down.
If I was in charge of this operation, I would have given the instruction not to shoot down the plane unless it started to make moves towards a populated area.
[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=HJld_TYTcAE
Re: Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
#9Surprising it has taken decades for someone to try this. At least we don't have to wait on delayed planes while the pilot tracks down the key...
Re: Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question
#10> Mr. Russell stole a plane from the airport and flew it for about an hour before it crashed. (emphasis mine) Wonder why Air National Guard's scrambled F-15s [0] didn't engage and bring the plane down before the individual commandeering the prop -- Mr. Russell -- brought the aircraft down with himself in the Ketron Island. IIRC, the plane flew over several densely populated areas before going down, and I can imagine…
> IIRC, the plane flew over several densely populated areas before going down
Which one of these areas would’ve been the best to shoot him down over?
I thought the fighter jets were to make sure he didn’t head into downtown Seattle?