
Man Who Stole Plane Near Seattle Raises Troubling Security Question - mistersquid
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/11/us/seatac-stolen-plane-richard-b-russell.html
======
salawat
It seems to me to be a continuation of the pattern of labor 'Going Postal' in
the labor hostile environment that has emerged since Reagan.

This should be a wake-up call to everyone in the country. We can't survive
without being able to trust and respect each other as human beings. Part of
that is recognizing that even the most humble occupations deserve a fair wage
and chance at advancement in life.

If we can't respect the people who put in 8 hour days on our behalf and
fulfill our obligations to them as responsible business owners/organizers, we
are doomed to see repeats of this type of tragedy.

People seek purpose, and many are content to do even the more "mundane" jobs
so long as the compensation is fair. Too many places seek to be successful on
Wall Street's terms rather than in providing a service to their community.

I'm sure an MBA will surface and tell me I'm wrong, but I've not encountered a
workplace that didn't marginalize their workers and generated a tragedy of the
likes that has become a hallmark of the last 50 years.

God Speed, Russell. May your death have not been in vain.

[0]Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion in America, Mark Ames

~~~
hueving
Pointless attempt to tie a political view to a tragedy, please don't do this.
There have been massacres, bombings, dramatic suicides, etc long before the
Reagan administration and none of them have claimed "If I would have only had
20% more compensation I wouldn't have violently murdered these 20 people."

P.S. It's godspeed, not "God speed".

~~~
kingjacob
No one says that outright but poverty and violent extremism are pretty closely
linked. Its not the only factor ofc, and youll always have outliers, but
comfortable people with things worth losing are less likely to do something to
endanger that.

~~~
ThrustVectoring
_Income inequality_ and violent crime are linked. Absolute poverty is
tolerable to the psyche so long as everyone is in the same boat.

------
aaronmck
The article title seems like an overreaction to a really sad situation. We
have to trust at least someone, and although he clearly had some issues (maybe
recent), he wasn't out to hurt anyone or aligned with any groups that wanted
to inflict harm.

Fighter jets were there immediately, people tried to talk him down, and he was
lost. Nothing better could have been done all around. Yes, commercial planes
could be keycoded or controlled in some other way, but I think most engineers
in a controlled setting will agree this creates exponentially more day-to-day
headaches than catastrophic situations it prevents.

~~~
cncrnd
Hmm I don't think it's that much of a headache to have some PIN code provided
to pilots as an additional measure.

These planes aren't cheap, even a small personal jet is in the low millions. A
Boeing 747 or similar is in the hundreds of millions.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
Airline engineering employees need to power on planes, fire up various systems
to test, and even move them around. It's absolutely routine. All the reports
I've seen seem to suggest that this was one of those employees. So it seems
reasonable to assume that he would have had the PIN or "key" or whatever in
this case anyway.

~~~
Shivetya
valet mode for aircraft. of course we can never eliminate the risk but perhaps
a two key mode similar to launch controls for missiles to do anything with a
plane other than low power movement?

~~~
acct1771
You put so much (undeserved) faith in the missile launching crowd...000000
comes to mind.

~~~
stephengillie
Other industries have controls that prevent simple passwords from being used.
Who audits the missile control groups?

~~~
paulie_a
The all zero thing goes back a while when someone in the military was told to
put launch codes in and defiantly made them 0. Because God forbid there should
be any protection on the most deadly device ever created by man.

------
mistersquid
Two things really caught me about this story besides the security implication.

First, the skill Russell deployed from (only?) having used a PC flight
simulator surprised me. If Russell in fact never had any flight experience
outside a simulator, well, I'm just stunned at what he was capable of doing.
(Linked in article, here for convenience.) [0]

Second, and more importantly, Russell's demise is tragic, pure and simple. He
seems relatively smart, had loved ones who cared about him, and was well-liked
and well-regarded by his peers and co-workers.

Yet, something was very broken for Russell.

I won't speculate about what may have caused Russell's despair, but I can't
help but feel his demise could have been avoided. I wish this story had a
different ending.

[0]
[https://twitter.com/CameronThomsen/status/102815764815856844...](https://twitter.com/CameronThomsen/status/1028157648158568448)

EDIT: readability

~~~
chrisper
I have put many hours in flight simulators (the ones you can install on your
own PC). One day I decided to take a real flying lesson. It was almost the
same as in the simulator. Obviously the controls are a bit different because
of different feedback, but you get used to it quickly. I think what helps a
lot is that there are so many very detailed plane packages out there you can
buy for the simulators. Too bad the community is kind of toxic, so I stopped
playing these games.

Obviously it's not enough to get a pilot license because there are some things
that you just can't do in a simulator.

~~~
close04
There's one thing that really bugs me: why is everyone so surprised that an
airport worker who was familiar with the planes managed to take off?

The reason this bugs me is that the 9/11 investigation concluded that multiple
people with 0 flight experience can be taught to accurately steer a large
commercial jet after just a short time training on small aircraft. In this
frame of reference managing to take of in a small turboprop in good weather
conditions shouldn't surprise anybody.

P.S. OK, I missed the part where "the plane was doing deep dives, broad loops
and at least one upside-down roll"... But the "bug" is still there. If it's
generally accepted that you can learn your way in a 747 cockpit on relatively
short notice, doing dives and loops with a small plane shouldn't be that
unbelievable. And I say this as a person who can comfortably take off and land
a Piper Cherokee but was pretty dumbfounded when sitting in the captain's seat
of a 747 for the first time.

------
noja
This is something we handle really, really badly. One bad thing happens one
time (like a failed shoe bomb), and so everybody forever-more has to be
permanently inconvenienced every day.

Whatever the response to this incident is, I hope (and doubt) that it will
also balance the CHANCE of this happening against the huge cost and
inconvenience of making it "impossible" to ever happen again.

We all know that 100% and "impossible" is not going to work, and we all know
that lame "for show" security measures are a huge waste of money that could be
better spent elsewhere.

The question that needs to be asked and will not is: what would be the most
best positive impact for that same amount of money?

It won't be asked because it's a hard question and people are scared of hard
questions.

Better make a Space Corps instead.

~~~
speedplane
I've always wondered about the true value of "for show" security measures.
Requiring millions of passengers to spend 5 minutes more going through
security to undergo procedures that wouldn't stop a determined terrorist
definitely seems like a huge waste.

However, if the government didn't do "something", it's pretty likely that
trust in the US air transportation system would shrink. Wouldn't crush it, but
maybe 3 of 100 passengers would forgo air travel because they didn't feel
comfortable or that their government isn't on top of it. And maybe that 3%
decrease corresponds in $XXX Million in lost revenue for airlines.

So I'd believe that "for show" security measures don't actually increase
security, but I'd also bet that they increase airline ridership. The moral of
the story is that it's an economic response, not a security one.

~~~
thunfischbrot
The opposite effect happens as well:
[https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/09/excess_automo...](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/09/excess_automobi.html)

> The inconvenience of extra passenger screening and added costs at airports
> after 9/11 cause many short-haul passengers to drive to their destination
> instead, and, since airline travel is far safer than car travel, this has
> led to an increase of 500 U.S. traffic fatalities per year. Using DHS-
> mandated value of statistical life at $6.5 million, this equates to a loss
> of $3.2 billion per year, or $32 billion over the period 2002 to 2011
> (Blalock et al. 2007).

~~~
mindslight
Don't forget the direct time waste of people getting to the scareport early
and waiting in line to get molested.

The average lifespan is 79. 700M passengers * 1hr / 79yrs --> every year, over
1000 babies are killed by the TSA.

------
dboreham
Surprising it has taken decades for someone to try this. At least we don't
have to wait on delayed planes while the pilot tracks down the key...

~~~
cgdcraig
It's not like the engine start procedure on one of those things is a turnkey
solution. The amount of domain knowledge needed serves as a form of soft
security.

~~~
joezydeco
Yet there’s plenty of knowledge out there if you know where to look.

Want to steal an Airbus A320? Here’s the complete startup procedure:

[https://youtu.be/uqKeSO6msDk](https://youtu.be/uqKeSO6msDk)

~~~
ericpauley
Keep in mind that almost all of this was safety checks, if you don't care
about that then there were only a few pretty simple steps.

------
phobosdeimos
Your average airport has thousands of employees. Airports are thoroughly
infiltrated by criminal gangs smuggling drugs. They don't do full background
checks on everyone who works there let alone psychological tests.

------
fipple
There is of course a lot sad about this story but something joyful as well.
Many people commit suicide without such a final moment of exhilaration.

~~~
justboxing
> Many people commit suicide without such a final moment of exhilaration.

...and without costing tax payers (F-15 fighter jets scrambling) and private
companies (the airlines that owned the crashed plane) millions of dollars,
causing stress and anxiety to people boarding other flights at Seattle airport
and the subsequent delays to everyone else.

~~~
colejohnson66
You’ve clearly never been suicidal. When you are, you don’t care about
anything; not even yourself. Also, nothing scares you. So when you finally
kill yourself, pain to yourself and others are the least of your worries.

~~~
reustle
But that was not the case here. The guy was pretty open about not wanting to
hurt or even inconvenience anyone else.

~~~
fipple
I think he drew a great line: he didn’t want to hurt anyone but didn’t mind
destroying property.

------
Animats
A somewhat similar incident: FedEx flight 705.[1] Hijack by an authorized
person.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Express_Flight_705](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Express_Flight_705)

------
unchurch
> Mr. Russell and his wife were active church members, Mr. Orr said, “so he
> doesn’t really fit the bill of someone who would steal an airplane.”

Can we please stop insinuating that people who attend church are perfect and
incapable of doing wrong and, by omission, insinuating that those of us who do
not are evil?

Edit: If the downvoters would like to explain how I’m wrong, that would be
lovely.

~~~
refurb
I think you’re arguing a point that isn’t being made.

------
gumby
> "Mr. Russell...had worked his shift on Friday."

So glad they told us this important fact. I wonder if his final direct deposit
(to his estate) will include that days' pay or if it will count as a vacation
day?

Has the news always been this inane?

~~~
adjagu
That sentence did stick out to me too. As abrupt and lacking further
information as it was it did serve to notify us as to how he was able to be on
the tarmac and gain access to the airplane. I do feel that the author could
have expanded that thought a bit more.

~~~
saagarjha
I think helped show how sudden this change was. One day, he's working his
normal job, another he's stealing a plane and crashing it into an island.

~~~
gumby
But you could just as well read it another way: the pressure built up and
eventually he snapped, or he was just waiting for an opportunity and finally
one presented itself, or he was just spontaneously overcome (not that we'll
likely ever know).

That's what I meant by the inanity: it's just a random trivial fact jammed in
there without context nor explanation of why it should be relevant. Writing a
story is selecting the relevant facts and dropping the rest: if there was a
bank robbery I wouldn't expect to see "the robber wore a blue baseball hat"
unless it were explained _why_ it was worth mentioning.

It could of course be poor editing, but it reminds me more of one of those
high school essays where you just jam a few extra things in there to get the
word count up. Admittedly, this isn't the most important article in the world
and could easily have been assigned to a junior reporter -- and reporters
write a lot so I don't mean to harsh on this one.

~~~
chipotle_coyote
I don't know that it's fair to describe it as a random trivial fact; it at
least _implies_ that he worked that shift and nobody noticed anything amiss.
The events of his final day are just a tiny part of the story, but they're a
part of the story nonetheless. Journalists are going to look for narratives,
and the narrative of "he worked his day normally and at the end of the shift
stole a plane" is different than "he wasn't scheduled to even be there that
day and came in to steal a plane," or "he hadn't shown up for work the last
four days, until he came in to steal a plane."

(I'm not sure the bank robber in a blue baseball hat is a good example of an
unnecessary detail, by the way. Almost every story about a robbery with
witnesses is likely to include basic details about what the witnesses saw. I'm
not sure I've read a single story about such a robbery that _wouldn 't_
include a detail like that!)

------
beenBoutIT
It's really nice to see American Air Supremacy in response to a potential
terrorist air threat. Neutralizing the stolen plane with a Sidewinder missile
would have provided a slightly better show of force to would-be terrorists,
but this was pretty good IMO. Our Air Force is more powerful than it's ever
been, while our mental health system was better off back in the 1940s.

~~~
h4b4n3r0
Had the guy been a terrorist, he could have flown that plane into Seattle or
into SeatTac airport itself. They wouldn't get here in time because they were
flying in from Portland. We all got lucky this time.

~~~
zifnab06
F-15 max speed is 1646mph (around 0.45 mi/s). From take off in Portland to
arriving at SeaTac would be less than 5 minutes at top speed. I assume it
takes longer than that to get pilots in planes and takeoff.

Seattle also has JBLM (joint base Lewis/McChord, army and air Force), along
with Bremerton naval base. I'm guessing they picked pdx because of pilot
availability, travel time is near nothing compared to getting a plane in the
air at those distances.

This could have been much worse. I feel bad for the guy, he needed help, but
I'm glad it ended how it did. Crashing into another plane, or anywhere
populated, would have been catastrophic.

~~~
h4b4n3r0
Q400 can do 69 miles in 10 minutes. Distance between SeaTac and Space Needle
is 15 miles.

------
abhiminator
> Mr. Russell stole a plane from the airport and flew it for _about an hour_
> before it crashed. (emphasis mine)

Wonder why Air National Guard's scrambled F-15s [0] didn't engage and bring
the plane down before the individual commandeering the prop -- Mr. Russell --
brought the aircraft down with himself in the Ketron Island.

IIRC, the plane flew over several densely populated areas before going down,
and I can imagine a thousand horrifically different ways this could have
turned out.

[0] [https://www.military.com/daily-
news/2018/08/11/f-15s-scrambl...](https://www.military.com/daily-
news/2018/08/11/f-15s-scrambled-after-sea-tac-airline-worker-takes-plane-
spree-ends-crash.html)

~~~
Rotdhizon
And to think, even if they decided to take him down, it would have likely been
over a populated area. Unless they disintegrated it with missiles while in the
sky, it likely would have ended in a catastrophe. The decision to not take the
plan out as soon as they had the chance to safely was interesting. Their lack
of action could have resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of
people.

Interestingly enough though, a lot of people aren't too mad at what he did.
Quite a few people have paid their respects to this guy. He took the plane,
saw some great views and did a barrel roll, then told the fighter pilot guys
he was going to bring it down himself. I do like that most sources aren't
trying to paint this guy as the devil. Sure what he did was wrong, but he sure
did go out in style. Who else can ever say they did a freaking barrel roll in
a commercial airliner.

The way the news outlets handled this was sickening. They all hopped on the
opportunity to make a headline that they knew damn well would lead people to
believe a fully loaded plane was hijacked mid flight.

Now the implications that a ground crew person was able to board a plan
unnoticed, and take off is insane. This brings up the whole perspective of
sleeper agents and inside jobs. Most data breaches are from insider threats,
who's to say the next big thing isn't mass deaths resulting from insider
threats.

Nice to see this was down voted?

~~~
rl3
> _Who else can ever say they did a freaking barrel roll in a commercial
> airliner._

Tex Johnston for one:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaA7kPfC5Hk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaA7kPfC5Hk)

~~~
NickNameNick
And the English and French chief test pilots for Concorde.

Sadly no pictures or videos of exists.

