The family of a “suicidal” airline employee who hijacked a passenger plane in Seattle have spoken of their shock and sadness at his death. Richard Russell, a ground service agent at Sea-Tac International Airport, took off in an empty 76-seater plane at the height of rush hour on Friday evening. The Horizon Airlines worker flew the plane for around an hour, committing a number of dangerous manoeuvres while being followed by military jets, before crashing into a small island in the Puget Sound at 8.47pm.
