SEATTLE, Wash. — Officials at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport said an airline employee stole a plane Friday and died after crashing on an island in Puget Sound, according to multiple news sources.
According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, Richard Russell, the "suicidal" 29-year-old airline employee died when he crashed an unoccupied Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 on Ketron Island, 40 miles from the airport.
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The man spoke with air traffic controllers while doing stunts in the air.
Update 1:03 a.m. EDT Aug. 13: Federal investigators have found the flight data recorder and "components of the cockpit voice recorder" from the crashed plane, The Associated Press reported late Sunday. The items are being processed by the National Transportation Safety Board, officials said.
The FBI also found human remains at the crash site, and officials confirmed that Russell died in the incident, the AP reported.
>> Ketron Island: 10 things to know
UPDATE: 2:13 a.m. EDT Aug. 11: In a YouTube video released early Saturday, Horizon Air Chief Operating Officer Constance von Muehlen said she believed the plane was taken by a Horizon employee. "Our hearts are with the family of the individual aboard as well as all our Horizon Air and Alaska Air employees," she said.
UPDATE: 12:57 a.m. EDT Aug. 11: Video from a witness shows the Bombardier Q400 passenger plane veering through the sky near Puget Sound near Seattle :
UPDATE 12:45 a.m. EDT Aug 11: The Pierce County Sheriff's Department has confirmed that the Bombardier Q400 passenger aircraft has crashed in an island in Puget Sound near Seattle.
Earlier: Alaska Airlines says it is aware of an incident involving an unauthorized take-off of a Horizon Air plane.
Horizon Air is part of Alaska Air Group and flies shorter routes throughout the U.S. West.
Please check back for updates
The Associated Press contributed to this report