Stolen Plane In Seattle Crashes After F-15 Engages In Chase, Reports Say

A stolen plane has crashed in Seattle after at least one military fighter aircraft engaged in chasing it, according to multiple local media outlets.

Seattle–Tacoma International Airport reported that “An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers at Sea-Tac; aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound.”

“We’ve confirmed a Horizon Air Q400 that had an unauthorized takeoff from SeaTac around 8pm has gone down near Ketron Island in Pierce County, WA,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement. “We’re working to confirm who was on board, we believe there were no guests or crew on board other than the person operating the plane.”

Here are two videos that show military fighter aircraft pursuing the stolen plane:

“Stolen horizon airplane crashed into Ketron island,” the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department wrote on Twitter. “Preliminary info is that a mechanic from unknown airlines stole plane. Was doing stunts in air or lack of flying skills caused crash into Island.”

The sheriff’s department also noted that two F-15s engaged in chasing the plane but were not involved in its crash.

WATCH:

In a subsequent tweet, Ed Troyer, Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, wrote:

Footage that was reportedly taken right after the crash:

“The Q400 is a heavily updated (4th generation) version of the Bombardier/DeHavilland Dash-8 aircraft,” Jon Ostrower, editor-in-chief of The Air Current, wrote on Twitter. “It’s engines are more powerful, systems more automated and cockpit readouts are mostly digital now. Still a challenging aircraft to start if you don’t know what you’re doing.”