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In his final moments, Richard Russell was alone in the sky, feeling ill and confused, yet still managing to crack jokes and express remorse as he piloted a stolen aircraft he knew would never return.
In August 2018, Russell, a ground service agent for Horizon Air, began his shift at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Unexpectedly, he commandeered a Bombardier Q400 aircraft and took flight. For over an hour, he communicated with air traffic controllers who pleaded with him to safely land the plane. Tragically, he chose to crash it deliberately on Ketron Island.
Known as “Beebo” on social media, the 29-year-old Russell is the focus of a new documentary titled “#SKYKING” from ABC News Studios. This film represents the first time many of Russell’s family and friends have spoken out publicly about the incident. It features audio from the air traffic control exchanges during the flight and is based on existing investigative reports.
A Horizon Air Q400 turboprop, part of the Alaska Air Group fleet, departed Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on August 13, 2018, in Washington. This model was the same aircraft type that Russell, an airline ground agent, stole and subsequently crashed into a small Puget Sound island, resulting in his death. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
“When I heard these recordings, they really struck a chord with me,” director Patricia E. Gillespie told Fox News Digital. “[Beebo] just sounded like guys I knew back home, especially when he was talking about his work life, minimum wage and some of the frustrations he felt surrounding employment — and the fact that he couldn’t talk about the tough feelings he was having.”
“It bewitched me,” Gillespie shared. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I really couldn’t get it out of my head.”
Richard Russell, a 3 1/2-year Horizon employee, worked as a ground service agent. His responsibilities included towing and pushing aircraft for takeoff and gate approach, de-icing them and handling baggage. (YouTube/Richard Russell’s blog)
As Russell flew over the Olympic Mountains, he made a confession in the recording that Gillespie said still haunts her and his loved ones.
“I got a lot of people that care about me, and it’s going to disappoint them to hear that I did this,” he said. “I would like to apologize to each and every one of them. [I’m] just a broken guy. Got a few screws loose, I guess. Never really knew it till now.”
His last transmission indicated that his fuel reserves were dangerously low. Time had run out.
The documentary “#SKYKING,” directed by Emmy winner Patricia E. Gillespie, is available for streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. (ABC News Studios)
“Not for long,” he said. “I feel like one of my engines is going out or something.”
Moments later, the Q400 crashed into the woods, sparking a two-acre fire. The FBI said Russell died of “multiple traumatic injuries.”
“There’s also a line where he says he wanted to just talk with these guys, but they’re all business,” Gillespie explained. “Those are the things that stood out to me as well. At one point in the recording, he says, ‘If you ask me why I did it, blame it on not making minimum wage, we’ll chalk it up to that. Maybe that’ll grease the gears for the higher-ups.’ I have heard that at dinner. Not just from my male friends.”
Richard Russell was a beloved high school football player before his life took a dark turn. (ABC News Studios)
“He says some more controversial things in that call,” said Gillespie. “Particularly, he made this statement where he says, ‘Do you think Alaska [Airlines] will give me a job as a pilot if I land this plane?’ They say, ‘Oh, they’ll give you a job doing anything.’ And he says, ‘Yeah, right, I’m a White guy.’ That became sort of a bellwether that got extremely controversial online. Really unsavory characters, like actual White supremacists, are saying he’s their poster boy, which was completely inaccurate.”
“People who are very far to the other end of the spectrum were saying he’s a domestic terrorist hell-bent on destruction, which turned out not to be accurate,” she continued. “But when I heard those words, and I saw how they were being taken in context, I had a sense that there was information missing. I didn’t know what that information was going to be, but I knew that I felt really compelled to look into it.”
Members of the Pierce County Sheriffs Department stand near the Steilacoom Ferry dock in Washington on Aug. 11, 2018, near the crash site of the stolen Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 turboprop. In the audio, Richard Russell is heard saying, “I’ve played some video games before.” (Jason Redmond/AFP)
During Gillespie’s sit-downs with loved ones, she learned that Russell, born in the Florida Keys and raised in Wasilla, Alaska, was goofy and deeply religious. He later met Hannah, his future wife, at a Christian youth program. They got married in 2012 and moved to Washington. Together, they opened a bakery.
During his radio exchanges with air traffic control, Richard Russell referred to himself as “Sky King.” (YouTube/Richard Russell’s blog)
In a YouTube video posted to his blog, Russell shared photos of his travels and spoke of his job as an airport worker.
“I lift a lot of bags,” he said. “Like a lot of bags. So many bags.”
But the gig was far from a dream job. While Russell appeared reliable and positive at work, internally, he was feeling unfulfilled in life. His social media posts offered no hint he was quietly suffering.
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Richard “Beebo” Russell’s mother displays his car which has been left the same since his death. (ABC News Studios)
“He was not making a statement about feeling oppressed as a White guy,” Gillespie emphasized. “It sounds like a statement about things that had been said to him at work. And it’s scary to me that that story rarely got uncovered because the internet machine was so quick to politicize it instead of acting with curiosity and asking how these words ended up coming out of this person.”
“I think Beebo’s aunt says it really well when she says something to the effect of, ‘This idea of an American dream — you can provide for your wife, you can have two cars in the driveway, a house, a white picket fence — you can do this on one income. And that’s just not the reality we’re living in anymore.’”
Richard Russell, a Horizon Air employee, stole a Bombardier Q400 turboprop from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and crashed it near Ketron Island in Steilacoom, Washington, on Aug. 11, 2018. Officials said he did not commit security violations before the incident. (Jason Redmond/AFP)
“There’s a generation — Beebo’s generation — that can feel like failure when they can’t attain that,” Gillespie reflected. “The reality is they’re not failing. The economy is failing in this way, and they have to figure it out. And we don’t talk about these things, frankly. People don’t have an awareness of these social pressures, or in Beebo’s case, the pressure to be a man or a provider. The pressure to be a success.”
People who knew Russell told FBI agents and other law enforcement personnel they had no information indicating they knew of Russell’s plans to steal or crash an airplane, The Associated Press reported.
“Contacts with Russell’s employer determined there were no personnel issues,” according to records cited by the outlet. “Russell was known as a quiet guy who read a lot. Russell had a few unexcused absences, but nothing considered significant.”
Smoke rises from the crash site on Ketron Island in Washington where a Horizon Air turboprop plane crashed after being stolen from Sea-Tac International Airport on Aug. 11, 2018. (Ted S. Warren/AP)
Other witnesses told FBI agents Russell “failed to go to work Aug. 3 and had expressed feeling as if he was not living up to what others expected of him,” the records show. The witnesses said he went to work Aug. 4 to try to pick up a shift, but the next day he “seemed strange.” Loved ones attempted an intervention, The Associated Press reported.
Richard Russell’s family said in a statement that they were stunned and heartbroken. They said it’s clear Russell didn’t intend to harm anyone, and “he was right in saying that there are so many people who loved him.” (ABC News Studios)
“Russell seemed fine to family members after the intervention, though he was drinking more,” the outlet reported based on records. “The week of Aug. 6, Russell seemed fine to family/friends.”
Four days later, Russell entered the plane and took off without authorization. The FBI found evidence he had searched flight simulators before the incident.
The site on Ketron Island in Washington where a Horizon Air turboprop plane crashed after being stolen is seen on Aug. 11, 2018, near Steilacoom, Washington. (Ted S. Warren/AP)
During Russell’s conversation with air traffic control, he said he didn’t want to hurt anyone. He intentionally kept the plane away from populated areas. However, reports noted that Russell could have inflicted vastly more damage had he chosen to do so. Potential targets included tens of thousands of fans assembling at Safeco Field for a sold-out Pearl Jam concert.
Richard Russell’s loved ones, including his brother, spoke out publicly for the first time. (ABC News Studios)
Officials also stressed that the incident posed a serious risk to public safety and exposed vulnerabilities in airport security. Many wondered how, nearly 17 years after the 9/11 attack, someone could simply take a passenger plane from a major U.S. airport without authorization.
Before the plane plunged into the thick forest, Russell performed an acrobatic stunt.
“I think I’m going to try to do a barrel roll, and if that goes good, I’ll go nose down and call it a night,” Russell is heard saying from the cockpit.
“The line that broke my heart when I was doing these interviews was when his brother Phil was asked about it,” said Gillespie. “He said, ‘He could have been anything he wanted to be.’ This idea that if he’d just believed in himself, if he just believed he was living in an America where guys like him could win, he could have been anything he wanted to be. He could have been a pilot.”
In the resurfaced audio, Richard Russell said he “wasn’t really planning on landing” the aircraft, and he described himself as “just a broken guy.” His mother, who spoke out in “#SKYKING,” is seen here. (ABC News Studios)
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Russell’s death a suicide. Authorities concluded Russell acted alone in deliberately taking the aircraft, an act that could have resulted in significant loss of life.
An Alaska Airlines Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 operated by Horizon Air takes off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport one day after Horizon Air ground crew member Richard Russell took a similar plane on an unauthorized flight in Seattle, Washington, on Aug. 11, 2018. (Jason Redmond/AFP)
“Eight years later, his family’s hearts are still very broken,” said Gillespie. “You can never get over something like this. Suicide doesn’t end pain. It passes on to your loved ones. But I also think the family wants his story to be a force for good in helping people like him get the help they need so that other families don’t have to go through what they’ve been through.”
Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.
