Audio of the 29-year-old Seattle-Tacoma airline worker who hijacked an empty Alaska Airlines plane on Friday night before crashing to his death on a sparsely populated Island in puget sound reveal a deeply troubled man at the end of his rope.
No passengers were aboard the 76-seat Horizon Air Q400 turboprop plane stolen by the ground service agent from Pierce County, as he conducted an “unauthorized takeoff” from the airport and proceeded to attempt aerobatic maneuvers while chased by two F-15’s scrambled by the National Guard.
Full video form John Waldron on Facebook being shown on CNN #seatac pic.twitter.com/R98bl5uQBr
— Cameron Thomsen (@CameronThomsen) August 11, 2018
The full 25-minute recording of a conversation between the man, identified as “Rich” on the tape, and air traffic control (ATC) employees can be found here, while Twitter user Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) posted key segments on Twitter shortly after the incident.
“I’ve got a lot of people that care about me. It’s going to disappoint them to hear that I did this,” said the man. “I would like to apologize to each and every one of them. Just a broken guy, got a few screws loose I guess. Never really knew it until now.”
I’m listening through the archive of the radio chatter on the #seatac hijacking. Below are some of the clips. pic.twitter.com/ziBAYv7cgn
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
The man next told ATC that he was quickly running out of fuel. “I’m down to 2100; I started at like 30-something,” he reported. “I don’t know what the burnage [sic], burnout? is like on takeoff, but yeah, it’s burned quite a bit faster than I expected.”
Here he is realizing how quickly he is burning through fuel. pic.twitter.com/ftnpowm9D4
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
The ATC then tried to convince him to land at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, WA, to which the man said “Aww man, those guys would rough me up if I tried landing there… Oh — they’ve probably got anti-aircraft!” The ATC replied “No, they don’t have any of that stuff. We’re just trying to find a place for you to land safely,” to which the man replied: “Yeah, not quite ready to bring it down… This is probably jail time for life, huh? Well I would hope it would be for a guy like me.”
Here, the air traffic controller is trying to talk him into landing. pic.twitter.com/OxEe5T6JHJ
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
After ATC controllers discussing the situatoin on the open mic suggest the man needs help, the man replied “Nah, I mean, I don’t need that much help; I’ve played some video games before.” The man then asked how to pressurize the cabin because he was feeling “lightheaded.”
Looks like that didn’t upload correctly. Here is the clip of him asking for help getting the cabin pressurized so he isn’t “so lightheaded.” pic.twitter.com/3uDKPKGvHo
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
Offering a clue as to the man’s motive, he tells the ATC “Ah, minimum wage. We’ll just chalk it up to that. Maybe that will grease the gears a little bit with the higher-ups.”
This clip appears to be just a fragment of a conversation that was stepped on by other traffic, but he is saying something about “chalking it up” to minimum wage. pic.twitter.com/clkUp69A0D
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
The man then either became emotional or theatrical, exclaiming “Damnit Andrew, people’s lives are at stake here!” to which the ATC employee responds “Ah Rich, don’t say stuff like that.”
“I don’t want to hurt no one. I just want you to whisper sweet nothings into my ear,” the man responds.
He sounds very emotional here. #seatac pic.twitter.com/eZAuuC5RNa
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
Joking with the ATC employee, the man asks “Hey, do you think if I land this successfully, Alaska will give me a job as a pilot?”
The ATC employee responds “You know, I think they would give you a job doing anything if you could pull this off,” to which the hijacker replied “Yeah right! … Nah, I’m a white guy.”
“Nah, I’m a white guy.” #seatac pic.twitter.com/OVtJqphgqo
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
More select clips of the man:
The people speaking on the other end are doing an incredible job of keeping him from making things worse. pic.twitter.com/sIfTRFxMQF
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
Talking about watching the sights go by. This one got me. #seatacstolenplane Thank you @petersterne for this. pic.twitter.com/xW6oFCYrYe
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
He talks about an engine feeling like it’s cutting out. Credit to @jackhauen for finding this. pic.twitter.com/mHKFQ3YXXU
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
Here someone calling himself captain Bill tries to talk him into landing. #seatac Thanks @jackhauen for finding this. pic.twitter.com/0Ep8DQnhQm
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
The specifics of a barrel roll. @petersterne pic.twitter.com/RqGiZXuXky
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
He talks again about how video games have prepared him to fly a plane. @jackhauen pic.twitter.com/zHjDD9aNYL
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
“I wasn’t really planning on landing it.” @jackhauen pic.twitter.com/badyklQkob
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
“I hope this doesn’t ruin your day.” @jackhauen pic.twitter.com/ImYG1xoeXx
— Jimmy Thomson (@jwsthomson) August 11, 2018
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