Richard “Beebo” Russell was a well-liked, quiet young man. An avid traveler, high school football star, Christian youth leader, and former bakery owner, Richard Russell shocked the world on August 10, 2018, when he stole a Q400 plane from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac), performed a series of aerial acrobatics over Puget Sound, then deliberately crashed into a nearby island and killed himself.
Richard Russell’s plane crash made headlines nationwide. At the time, it was among the most serious domestic airline security breaches since the 9/11 terrorist attacks — and it was all the more shocking because it was carried out by an unassuming 28-year-old who worked for Horizon Air, the company that owned the very plane he stole.
But what made the story so tragic was that Russell’s conversations with air-traffic control indicated that he knew it was his final ride…