Passenger plane stolen from SeaTac. What are the options?

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by KiwiElf (here)
According to sources, the underground hideout facilitated a submarine dock where a decommissioned Sturgeon-class nuclear submarine was being kept.

[ ... Anon post continues ... ]

That appears to come from this page. I've pasted the entire thing.

Do read it to the very end!

• https://ashtarcommandcrew.net/forum/...hy-and-the-889

(Disclaimer: The following is an overview of the current situation based on intelligence leaks received from several sources which may or may not accurate. Other confirmed sources may also be included in this overview.)

New information about the Q400 aircraft crash on Ketron Island has emerged.

The plane crash on the island was a cover for an aerial attack.

The F-15 escort was not only there to escort. It was there to attack a Cabal MIC-built underground hideout located on the island.

According to sources, the underground hideout facilitated a submarine dock where a decommissioned Sturgeon-class nuclear submarine was being kept.

The submarine that Q posted back in June (https://qanon.app/#1479) was the "USS Richard B. Russell", a Sturgeon-class submarine that was decommissioned in Washington State.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Richard_B._Russell_(SSN-687)

The image of that submarine was posted right after the photo of the Whidbey Island missile launch (https://qanon.app/#1476).

The name of the mechanic who allegedly hijacked the Q400 aircraft was Richard B. Russell.

There are no such thing as coincidences.

Q Post 1845:

"Autists catch the message?
Think missile.
Do you believe in coincidences?
Q"

The decommissioned USS Richard B. Russell was re-outfitted with a long range ballistic missile that was used in an attempt to assassinate Trump in AF1 prior to arriving in Singapore before the summit with Kim Jong-un.

The missile was armed with a nuclear warhead and was aimed to detonate in the ocean below Trump in AF1.

The Q400 aircraft was remote controlled to crash directly into the exact location of the underground hideout.

The plane flew in a circular pattern around Ketron Island that resembled a "Q" before crashing.

The F-15 escorting the Q400 aircraft then used a specialized weapons package to destroy the underground hideout.

The crash site was a cover for any smoke or explosions caused by the destruction of the underground hideout. The plane crash also served as a reason for the F-15 to be there.

The underground hideout and the submarine were successfully destroyed.

The covert operation was successful.

None of this could be publicly exposed as the public would be flabbergasted about the whole ordeal.

The released air traffic audio of the incident was pre-recorded. All an elaborate cover for the covert operation.

Side Note: The underground hideout on Ketron Island was also being used to facilitate satanic pedophilia activities. No children were present at the underground hideout at the time of the covert operation. If any children were present, they would've been extracted by special forces prior to the operation.

Meanwhile on the financial front, sources claim a back wall date was given for the RV release.

Zimbabwe's bond notes should now be legal tender as banks open globally today, Tuesday, August 14.

The release of the RV will be known once the invitations and instructions to exchange/redeem are published.

The RV will be an event that will flip the world right side up and contribute massively to humanity's ascension.

We will all be given a chance to remind humanity of compassion just as Jesus/Sananda/Yeshua did. This time, it will be global and there will be many of us.

Every soul on this planet will rise to Christ Consciousness.

The arrival of a new era of humanity is on the horizon.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Erk, Ashtar...

But it may have been pasted on their site from somewhere else. The text can also be found here:

https://operationdisclosure.blogspot...august-14.html

I don't know anything about that website, but nothing of this 'intel' is sourced at all. It might be where it originated (timezones do my head in), but with mention of ascension and Sananda, it doesn't really matter! I'd air on the side of rationality, and steer well wide of it.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Star Mariner (here)
I'd air on the side of rationality, and steer well wide of it.

Yes. As a good ground rule for all serious researchers — on any subject — it DOES matter where claimed but unproven information comes from.

1. If Richard Dolan stated that he'd received some interesting information from an insider about the Secret Space Program, I'd be inclined to take him at his word.
2. If Corey Goode stated the same thing, I might not.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Yes completely, Ashtar Command has zero credibility. Looking through that webpage I see the same NESARA schtick they were pedalling 10 years ago!

[edina]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by KiwiElf (here)
According to sources, the underground hideout facilitated a submarine dock where a decommissioned Sturgeon-class nuclear submarine was being kept.

[ ... Anon post continues ... ]

That appears to come from this page. I've pasted the entire thing.

Do read it to the very end!

• https://ashtarcommandcrew.net/forum/...hy-and-the-889

(Disclaimer: The following is an overview of the current situation based on intelligence leaks received from several sources which may or may not accurate. Other confirmed sources may also be included in this overview.)

New information about the Q400 aircraft crash on Ketron Island has emerged.

The plane crash on the island was a cover for an aerial attack.

The F-15 escort was not only there to escort. It was there to attack a Cabal MIC-built underground hideout located on the island.

According to sources, the underground hideout facilitated a submarine dock where a decommissioned Sturgeon-class nuclear submarine was being kept.

The submarine that Q posted back in June (https://qanon.app/#1479) was the "USS Richard B. Russell", a Sturgeon-class submarine that was decommissioned in Washington State.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Richard_B._Russell_(SSN-687)

The image of that submarine was posted right after the photo of the Whidbey Island missile launch (https://qanon.app/#1476).

The name of the mechanic who allegedly hijacked the Q400 aircraft was Richard B. Russell.

There are no such thing as coincidences.

Q Post 1845:

"Autists catch the message?
Think missile.
Do you believe in coincidences?
Q"

The decommissioned USS Richard B. Russell was re-outfitted with a long range ballistic missile that was used in an attempt to assassinate Trump in AF1 prior to arriving in Singapore before the summit with Kim Jong-un.

The missile was armed with a nuclear warhead and was aimed to detonate in the ocean below Trump in AF1.

The Q400 aircraft was remote controlled to crash directly into the exact location of the underground hideout.

The plane flew in a circular pattern around Ketron Island that resembled a "Q" before crashing.

The F-15 escorting the Q400 aircraft then used a specialized weapons package to destroy the underground hideout.

The crash site was a cover for any smoke or explosions caused by the destruction of the underground hideout. The plane crash also served as a reason for the F-15 to be there.

The underground hideout and the submarine were successfully destroyed.

The covert operation was successful.

None of this could be publicly exposed as the public would be flabbergasted about the whole ordeal.

The released air traffic audio of the incident was pre-recorded. All an elaborate cover for the covert operation.

Side Note: The underground hideout on Ketron Island was also being used to facilitate satanic pedophilia activities. No children were present at the underground hideout at the time of the covert operation. If any children were present, they would've been extracted by special forces prior to the operation.

Meanwhile on the financial front, sources claim a back wall date was given for the RV release.

Zimbabwe's bond notes should now be legal tender as banks open globally today, Tuesday, August 14.

The release of the RV will be known once the invitations and instructions to exchange/redeem are published.

The RV will be an event that will flip the world right side up and contribute massively to humanity's ascension.

We will all be given a chance to remind humanity of compassion just as Jesus/Sananda/Yeshua did. This time, it will be global and there will be many of us.

Every soul on this planet will rise to Christ Consciousness.

The arrival of a new era of humanity is on the horizon.

Posted by Star Mariner (here)
Yes completely, Ashtar Command has zero credibility. Looking through that webpage I see the same NESARA schtick they were pedalling 10 years ago!

I disagree, the article Bill shared here is not the original source.

I read the anons on the boards discussing this several days ago.

Posted by edina (here)

This looks to be an compilation post of the various ideas and information that has been getting shared for several days now on the reddit boards.

It looks to be adapted to the ideology of this particular poster.

I don't think this is the original post.

There are many original posts on 8 chan and reddit.

I read many of those posts several days ago. This looks to be dated today.

Just a click through on his article link let me know this.
And a few click throughs on that one assured me of it.

If you click through to the source link on KiwiElf's comment you will see it is a post that is referred to on the chans as making sauce or baking bread. It's someone summarizing the various points that have come up in the recent days discussions on the topic.

The link Bill posted is not an Ashtar Command original, it's a copy/paste of the 8 chan summary, or previous channer's comments with some audience adaptions. The article Bill shared is in the comment section of that page he linked to.

The comment links to: https://operationdisclosure.blogspot...august-14.html

Which links to: http://www.dinarchronicles.com/intel.html
Which is a sort of dead end page, looping back to the second one, kinda like Alexandra Bruce's website, Forbidden Knowledge loops everything back to itself.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by edina (here)
Just a click through on his article link let me know this.
And a few click throughs on that one assured me of it.

If you click through to the source link on KiwiElf's comment you will see it is a post that is referred to on the chans as making sauce or baking bread. It's someone summarizing the various points that have come up in the recent days discussions on the topic.

I searched for the two-word phrase "underground hideout", which I thought might be unusual, on both this thread and the Qanon thread. It didn't feature in any post on either, until today.

To check, click on Search Thread (the button near the top right of every page), and then in the little drop-down menu that appears, choose Advanced Search. That takes you to something that looks the same as the regular whole-forum advanced search page, but it restricts the search to the thread you accessed it from.

Then enter the term "underground hideout" in quotes to preserve the phrase. There were no posts until these ones, today.

[Ascension]

Posted by KiwiElf (here)

Posted by Ascension (here)
The "secret missile launch" was an air ambulance captured by Skunk Bay Weather located on Whidbey island using a camera set to a 20 second exposure. Don't you wonder why, in an area populated by over 4 million people, that you only see that one shot of the missile? Not to mention that Whidbey Island is nowhere near Ketron, and a missile launch location at either place could not be confused.

https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/whid...air-force-one/

Sorry, that (fake) "convenient MSM story" of a time exposure of an air ambulance chopper was discussed at length on the "Q" thread months ago... and debunked (quite easily in fact)

As I do not ever buy a mainstream news story at face value, I am attempting to sort through the Q take on this dubious Q400 story. However, when the fake missile launch began to rear it's ugly head, it immediately instilled doubt about Q as well as the Avalon experts. Avalon has always been my go to on alternative takes so this has me greatly concerned.

The Q material, on the surface, resembles all other "I'm a white hat, ask me anything" scenarios. Yes, there is excellent research going on behind the scenes, but the Whidbey "missile" story is not accurate and makes zero sense.

As a newbie to Q, it is difficult to sort through the Q research boards and I could not find the debunking of the story. I also could not find an Avalon thread on the original missile discussion. Would it be possible for you to direct me to the meat of the debunking of the debunking in either location? I would sincerely appreciate it.

[edina]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by edina (here)
Just a click through on his article link let me know this.
And a few click throughs on that one assured me of it.

If you click through to the source link on KiwiElf's comment you will see it is a post that is referred to on the chans as making sauce or baking bread. It's someone summarizing the various points that have come up in the recent days discussions on the topic.

I searched for the two-word phrase "underground hideout", which I thought might be unusual, on both this thread and the Qanon thread. It didn't feature in any post on either, until today.

To check, click on Search Thread (the button near the top right of every page), and then in the little drop-down menu that appears, choose Advanced Search. That takes you to something that looks the same as the regular whole-forum advanced search page, but it restricts the search to the thread you accessed it from.

Then enter the term "underground hideout" in quotes to preserve the phrase. There were no posts until these ones, today.

I watched a video last night that referenced the term "underground hideout", it's been shared earlier in this thread, Link to Post #75. (That video was published 12 August.)

Ashtar Command and it's affiliate sites are not the source for what KiwiElf shared.

What KiwiElf shared was from reddit, a baker, baking. (ie: summary of the discussion over the past few days.)

The video shared earlier is a good compilation of some of those chan conversations.

Note Added: One of the reasons people have been taking a closer look at the Seattle plane event is because it was mentioned directly by Q. These Q posts are covered in other places.

Today, Q posted this:



Geo T is being interpreted to be Geothermal, or Geo Tracking, anons are relating this to finding underground facilities, so it is still a topic on the chans.

https://eesa.lbl.gov/technology/geot/

[KiwiElf]

Thanks edina (crossposted)

Word for word, exactly as I posted it from 8CHAN. (NOTE: the timestamp date on 8CHAN may differ depending where you are located & in which part of the world)

https://8ch.net/qresearch/res/2596707.html#2597321

(click to enlarge)



I might add that several "alternative websites" publish "Q" extracts of interest from the 8CHAN research boards - and put their own spin on it.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by KiwiElf (here)
Thanks edina (crossposted)

Word for word, exactly as I posted it from 8CHAN. (NOTE: the timestamp date on 8CHAN may differ depending where you are located & in which part of the world)

Kiwi, the Ashtar Command post came first, by about 3 hours. Look carefully at the timestamps. It doesn't matter what time zone you're in. 3 hours is 3 hours.

One of the important points for us all to bear in mind here is just because it's an Anon post on the Q board, it could be ANYONE posting ANYTHING from ANYWHERE, including stuff copied from ANYWHERE ELSE.

Relying on posts from an Anon, anywhere at all — especially unsubstantiated posts making utterly unprovable, wild claims! — isn't research. You may as well be copying YouTube comments from a kid somewhere, posting under a false name or using his Mom's account. How do you know who this is, or where the information's sourced from? You don't, and neither do any of us.

An anonymous source means exactly nothing, unless someone knows who they are (in which case, it may possibly be meaningful).

That's why we don't have anonymous posters here on Avalon. If we did, it'd be disinformation chaos on every thread. Think about it.

This is like a coffee table conversation between friends, and it can be fun and interesting and wild and highly speculative. But it's not research. As long as you know what you're doing, and why... it's all fine!

[KiwiElf]

Posted by Ascension (here)
As a newbie to Q, it is difficult to sort through the Q research boards and I could not find the debunking of the story. I also could not find an Avalon thread on the original missile discussion. Would it be possible for you to direct me to the meat of the debunking of the debunking in either location? I would sincerely appreciate it.

Hi Ascension,

OK, this is where it all starts regarding the "missile launch" but for context, best to perhaps start at the top of the page here to see what lead up to it (this is the main "Q" Thread on Avalon, btw):

The Qanon posts, and a “Very Bad Day” Scenario - for some elite swamp critters (Nov 2017 and beyond)
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...eyond-/page244

It goes on for a few pages. Due to the nature of the "Q" posts themselves, you will find posts hopping to and fro over varying topics "Q" has posted. Unfortunately, if you haven't been following, you will find yourself in the "middle of the book" so to speak. You're about to jump down a VERY big rabbit hole.

As new information arises, a particular topic may be discussed & updated a few days, weeks or months later (like now for example, as this Q400 crash is tied in to that earlier event - bigger picture here).

The "Q" posts themselves are on several mirrored websites and are generally included in the Avalon thread (above) as they come to hand. The main one we're using now is:

https://qanon.app/

Ive included a sample graphic for you which includes that Q post: (click to enlarge)



If you scroll down to post #1476 (12 JUN), (they are all numbered in bold in the top right corner of each post - I've circled it in red); the blue numbers to the left (circled in green) are a direct link to the 8CHAN Research board for that particular post.

The most recent Q post is at the top left of the webpage, oldest at the bottom right. Only the "Q" team can post here. ("Q" is a group of people btw, not an individual).

Q Post #1476 is where "Q" posted the "missile" image and a correlating start date with the Avalon thread for you. After that, it gets discussed a bit randomly on the Avalon thread I'm afraid.

Please feel free to join us on the "Q thread" - this particular incident is being discussed there too (amongst all the others!)

BTW, The main 8CHAN Q Research site or "catalogue" is here (and it's massive):
https://8ch.net/qresearch/catalog.html

[turiya]

Posted by Ascension (here)
As a newbie to Q, it is difficult to sort through the Q research boards and I could not find the debunking of the story. I also could not find an Avalon thread on the original missile discussion. Would it be possible for you to direct me to the meat of the debunking of the debunking in either location? I would sincerely appreciate it.

Ascension

I will just add my 2cents worth...

Kiwi has explained it quite well, I will just add by saying, much of what the Q postings consist of are cryptic messages. Its been suggested by some, one being Jerome Corsi, who has had experience in security level coded messaging, and for Corsi he is confident in saying that the Q (team) [his opinion] is/are military intelligence personnel. This is what he had concluded after spending some serious time decoding the early messages.

As you said it yourself, you are "a newbie to Q". Out of all the many Q posted messages, several have the phrase, "Future proves past." What that suggests is that what Q has written in a posted message, it may come to show itself to be a fact at some point in future.

There has been many times that what Q has said comes to be true at a later future moment. The latest example is something I posted over at the Transition into Trump thread. (See Post #4654 .) I will explain it in short:

Since at least April 4th 2018 Q has often made a reference to Sen. John McCain as not a person that is worthy of even uttering, or mentioning the name of the person, and has often referred to McCain as 'no name'. So, just recently (as a couple-three days ago) Trump gave a 35 minute speech announcing the JOHN S. McCAIN NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019. In all that time Trump never mentioned John McCain's name. The Act was named after John McCain, and Trump never mentioned his name! Well, the MSM all went bonkers over this (see the MSM articles on this LINK.) The bottom-line in this is that it shows that Trump & Q are on the same page - They don't say his name.

Q post:

Even in a Trump tweet that he posted, he didn't mention the specific FULL name of the Act. He called it the "National Defense Authorization Act", leaving off the first part of the JOHN MCCAIN name.

It was my great honor to sign our new Defense Bill into law and to pay tribute to the greatest soldiers in the history of the world: THE U.S. ARMY. The National Defense Authorization Act is the most significant investment in our Military and our warfighters in modern history!



3:36 PM - 13 Aug 2018

There has been several other Q posted messages that have shown that Q (team) has been working closely in conjunction w/ POTUS. Those that see this are only those that have been following the Q posted messages for quite some time. Someone new - a newbie - will not get it, will not see it. Only those that are following the messaging will see it.

_____Late Add____________

From True Pundit today (15-August 2018)....

Trump Signs Bill Named After Sen. McCain, Still Finds Way To Troll Rival


Trump Signs Bill Named After Sen. McCain, Still Finds Way To Troll Rival
President Donald Trump on Monday signed a $716 billion defense policy bill named for John McCain but included no mention in his remarks of the Republican senator, who is [supposedly] battling brain cancer at home in Arizona. (Word in brackets is mine.)
truepundit.com

6:20 AM - 15 Aug 2018

__________________________

Its actually quite incredible what is taking place. Its an amazing time to be a witness to what is happening at this time in history. And it isn't confined to the U.S.A. Its growing & becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

You may want to consider paying more attention. Just saying...

Cheers

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Kiwi, the Ashtar Command post came first, by about 3 hours. Look carefully at the timestamps. It doesn't matter what time zone you're in. 3 hours is 3 hours.

When comparing two time stamps, if they are not both in the same time zone, the difference between the two time zones matters.

[KiwiElf]

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Kiwi, the Ashtar Command post came first, by about 3 hours. Look carefully at the timestamps. It doesn't matter what time zone you're in. 3 hours is 3 hours.

When comparing two time stamps, if they are not both in the same time zone, the difference between the two time zones matters.

Thank you Paul.

Precisely my point. The 8CHAN timezones are date and time sensitive to the viewer's location. The timestamp on my frame grab is NZ time and Wednesday 15th, which if I'm not mistaken, hasn't happened in the US yet.

Furthermore, my post was not in ANY way presented as "fact". It WAS presented as a discussion point in the wider context of what "Q" and the Anons are discussing re this plane crash. Some aspects of this story are just not adding up.

Exactly which parts of my post are (proven) true, false, impossible or possible at this time?

All I "know" with absolute certainty, is that plane crashed on that island after careering around the sky, in what looks to me, to be flown by an "aerobatic pro"; it's an airliner, not a Pitts Special.

(Can the various "alternative" versions of Roswell, 9-11 or Sandy Hook be proven according to the "official narratives")?

I believe edina's post #88 on this thread explains the original source quite well (and video from a few days ago and on this thread). Reddit. (frequently referred to by the Anons,.. not "Ashtar Command").

It was assumed by me that serious readers of this thread would have seen that video prior to my post.

Sorry, as Turiya has said above, if you haven't been closely following "Q", you won't get it, and with utmost respect Bill, you have not been closely following "Q". (Nor do I consider your earlier posts on the "Q" Thread with your "dot joining" illustration, mocking other members, to be appropriate). We DO take it seriously, even if others don't.

When it comes to "Q", I can say with confidence, that I DO know what I'm talking about, thanks.

[A Voice from the Mountains]

Posted by turiya (here)
There has been several other Q posted messages that have shown that Q (team) has been working closely in conjunction w/ POTUS. Those that see this are only those that have been following the Q posted messages for quite some time. Someone new - a newbie - will not get it, will not see it. Only those that are following the messaging will see it.

I was skeptical of Q for a few weeks after it started too, until I started noticing the first proofs, which were syncs with Trump's tweets.

Here are a couple of examples of the kinds of things that keep happening:








There are lots of these but for some reason when I did a web search, the only results that came back were totally useless. I should have been saving and collecting these all along, but after I got the point I stopped looking for these verifications. In another instance, Trump tweeted three plus signs (+++) after Q, and yet another example was the use of the unusual phrase "tippy top."

You can see from the time stamps in the images above that Q will drop info in advance of POTUS or some other official releasing the same messaging, or words or imagery. Once you see Q "predict" what is coming next so many times, you just start taking it for granted and following along with the narrative being presented.

I've noticed that some hardcore skeptics over on Voat finally had to admit that Q is getting inside info, but then shifted to it all being fabricated propaganda from the Trump administration. Too bad much of the info being dropped isn't new to me, being the conspiracy theorist that I am, and the parts that are new are just filling in blanks and dropping clues regarding ongoing events such as this one involving this plane.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Posted by edina (here)

Posted by Star Mariner (here)
Yes completely, Ashtar Command has zero credibility. Looking through that webpage I see the same NESARA schtick they were pedalling 10 years ago!

I disagree, the article Bill shared here is not the original source.

I read the anons on the boards discussing this several days ago.

I agree, I do think it was originally sourced elsewhere (as I had earlier speculated). I was just agreeing with Bill about Ashtar. To me it looks like the material Kiwi posted did originate from 'bakers' on 8chan. The likes of Ashtar and elsewhere just copy-pasted it and added their 'ascension' spin on the end. Of course, whether the original Anon post is true or not is another matter (it still lacks source). We continue to dig.

[mountain_jim]

I reiterate the message from Voice above that is true for me also:

Once you see Q "predict" what is coming next so many times, you just start taking it for granted and following along with the narrative being presented.

I've noticed that some hardcore skeptics over on Voat finally had to admit that Q is getting inside info, but then shifted to it all being fabricated propaganda from the Trump administration. Too bad much of the info being dropped isn't new to me, being the conspiracy theorist that I am, and the parts that are new are just filling in blanks and dropping clues regarding ongoing events such as this one involving this plane.

Q is getting the inside info it's clear to me, and how much of it is propaganda verses oncoming Truth only Time Will Tell.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
We've just been sent this e-mail, name provided.

~~~

I've been following PA for years. Even PC when it started. I agree with many things. I've never really had anything new to offer so I never felt compelled to join as a member.

I was reading the posts about the stolen Q400 and wanted to share that I was someone who was there that day and it was very real. People I work with knew him personally. The controversy isn't whether or not it happened -- it's what was it that made him a 'broken guy'.

The same correspondent, who worked at SeaTac with people who knew Russell well, has just now sent me this:

With regard to 'what it was that made him a "broken guy".' I could never say it publicly without risking my livelihood, so I'm glad that someone else did:

https://thestranger.com/slog/2018/08/17/30824665/i-worked-with-richard-russell-at-horizon-air-and-i-understand-why-he-did-what-he-did

Here's the article:

I Worked With Richard Russell at Horizon Air, and I Understand Why He Did What He Did
by Todd Bunker
Aug 17, 2018 at 8:45 am

I was surprised to wake up last Saturday morning to the headlines. Not completely shocked, but surprised nonetheless. I was a ground service agent at Horizon Air for the better part of 2016, and I worked alongside Richard "Beebo" Russell. As ground service agents, we handled luggage, walked through planes for final inspection, and pushed them out onto the taxiway.

We weren’t close, barely acquaintances, which seems odd considering the tight quarters and the foxhole mentality that is required to work in these particular roles. But with the high turnover (if you follow Horizon Air jobs, you will know they are always hiring that position for SeaTac), it’s not that hard to imagine.

Day-to-day survival on The Ramp (the area between the terminal and the taxiway, where passengers are loaded and unloaded, baggage is handled, planes fueled, etc.) requires a lot of sacrifice to keep the planes moving. It would be difficult enough if the inadequate break room didn’t always resemble a crowded, sweatbox college party—but without any drugs or alcohol, and nobody having fun. Brought your lunch to save spending $10 buying a meal in the terminal? Sure hope it’s still in the fridge when you get your lunch break. Nasty emails directed to anonymous lunch bandits were a common occurrence. There was a locker room, but not enough lockers for everyone. Think about how many layers are required to work in the weather in Seattle, and then think about where you might put your jacket, gloves, etc., when you don’t need them without them getting stolen, if you don’t have a locker. These things aren’t luxuries; they are a basic part of work life.

Going into the job, I knew that there was a sharp disconnect between the shiny happy side of the terminal, and the grit on the ground. What I didn’t realize was how much like a military base it was run. Which makes sense, historically, and which is why Horizon and other airlines recruit heavily from military bases. I went through initial training with a guy who had just spent 10 years in the army.

"How was that?" I asked him.

"Well, I didn’t blow my brains out," was his reply.

So I supposed working at Horizon was an upgrade for him. When a lot of your supervisory staff and co-workers are ex-military you begin to realize what being expendable is. I believe Beebo was acutely aware of that—because we all were. It's the kind of dehumanizing situation that could lead to what happened on August 10.

If the environment itself isn’t enough to persuade you that you are nothing more than a cog to the upper management/shareholders, there are plenty of other, even more exasperating reminders. You are making around $3 less per hour than anybody else at SeaTac (including other airline employees, restaurant employees, car rental employees, bus drivers, etc.), although there are benefits! Health insurance and stock options might be nice, but they don’t pay the rent. However, a vast majority of the ground service agents are men under age 30, so insurance and stock options mean nothing to them. They become empty gestures from a management who knows you’ll never use them, and thus cost the company little.

But that's only one part of the picture. To be clear, the people I worked with were dedicated, hard working, safety-conscious, attempting to be loyal—all of the things that are supposed to get you ahead in America. But the workers on the ground and our immediate supervisors could barely keep our heads above water. As a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group, Horizon Air is the proverbial red-headed stepchild. It is glaringly clear to everyone who works there that cost-cutting by the executive team(s) in order to keep the shareholders happy is the main goal, and Horizon is the first stop on the belt-tightening train.

We the lowest level employees knew that when the record quarterly earnings report came out there wasn’t going to be any trickle down. When I worked for Horizon, we were cursing our low-wage fate in the break room, while Alaska was spending $2.5 billion acquiring Virgin America (gotta keep up with Delta), and then investing another $2.5 billion upgrading their turboprop airplane fleet to jets. Acquisitions and sexy new jets play well at the stockholder meeting; increased labor costs do not.

The first thing I thought when I heard the news about a plane being stolen by a Horizon employee was, "Ah yes, the end of summer. Of course." Summer is nearly constantly as busy as the holiday season.

My summer of 2016 kicked off with a new schedule (we bid on shifts every 3-4 months), which as it turns out was literally generated by a computer program. X number of flights, X number of employees, some advanced mathematics, and poof! Perfection. Except the schedule that summer was so out of touch with what was going on on the ground that a handful of veteran employees went to management and successfully lobbied for a "do-over," because the schedule as presented was unrealistic, and featured far too many new employees at a given time compared to experienced ones.

An important perk are monthly bonuses, which can range from $50-200 a month depending on whether "target numbers" are hit. About halfway through my summer tenure at Horizon Air, we were informed that the bonus structure was being revamped. It now included delays caused by weather and Air Traffic Control, circumstances completely out of our control. This was described as "more realistic to the situation on the ground." It was more like a morale murderer.

This is all to say that I can understand what could drive a normal person to do what Richard Russell did: He saw his chance for relevance—to be simply acknowledged as an individual human being—and grabbed it. I don’t condone it, and wish it would have turned out with a spectacular landing that he could've walked away from as a folk hero to some (myself included). I'll leave the question of exactly how he did it to the investigators.

Richard's situation was not unusual for what has morphed into a wage-slave economy. The fact that he had access to a plane makes it sensational. There are plenty of people out there making not-enough money, and they keep plugging along, not stealing multi-million dollar aircraft and crashing them.

But the next time you’re at SeaTac, take the chance to look out at Horizon’s gates from the main food court, and marvel at the controlled chaos on the ground. Off to your left, you’ll see baggage tugs speeding to and from the catacombs under the terminal. Farther out, Delta planes lurk, large.

And when you step onto the stairway of your next flight, holding that Big Mac you bought in the terminal because otherwise there's no reasonably priced food on the plane (customers are now just numbers, too), remember that the person who flipped your burger is probably making $3/hr more than the person who handles your luggage, walks around the plane doing final inspections, and ultimately pushes the plane full of 76 souls (as we used to say) out to the overcrowded taxiway to send you off safely.

Your life depends on the work they do.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

That article could easily have referred to the airport where I work. A good 2,000 people work on the ground there, and some that i know, who have worked at other airports, say it's exactly the same. It's basically all over.

I worked on the ramp too for a spell, for Servisair (a different ground handling company), but it was the same. I remember the chaos, the shouting, and the rushing to and from to beat the turnaround. I remember the awful wages. I remember the rotting fridge with a broken door in the cramped little cabin we had for a break room. And I remember the management clones in their suits, strutting around and regarding you as somewhat less than an insect in the scale of things.

I remember their dirty tricks too, like changing the job titles, eg from 'operative' to 'technician', and the employment loop-hole they exploited by doing that, because a different title meant a different job (when in fact they were exactly the same), but they did it because it meant we had to re-apply for our own jobs! and those who were unsuccessful were pruned (unsuccessful applicants means no redundancy payout!) Total slime. Every single thing in that article is true, 100%.

And what else is true is that I know people who have lost it in various airport jobs - ramp agents, bus drivers, security, check-in people, whatever. I can think of half a dozen off the top of my head who literally snapped, and went on the sick long term. Cause: "work related stress". And of course, no one 'upstairs', as we call them, ever gives a damn about it, in fact they rejoice when that happens, because they get to replace the position with bottom dollar agency staff without any experience or skills (and sometimes, without even the English language).

But I can still honestly say, every one of those ramp employees, myself included (at the time, I work in different part of the airport now), who was on and off of planes all day long, didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of actually starting one up (we never go in the cockpit), let alone hitting a taxiway, to say nothing of taking off. Going on the basis of aeroplanes in one's work-environment a stewardess has more chance of knowing actually how to fly one than a ground handler - which is to say none at all.

Whatever really did happen with Richard Russell, he must have been an experienced pilot, and not a mere ground-handler - absolutely no way. Someone definitely isn't telling the truth here.

[Michelle Marie]

A true story...one time I met what I thought was a friend and co-worker of my nephew. I was only visiting, so I didn't know his friends or who he worked with. After a strange twist of events, this guy was driving away with me in the car. When I asked him about working with my nephew, he gave me this long elaborate story. Pretty convincing.

But then, my intuition kicked in. It was very strong. He was up to no good. I told him I did not want to go anywhere with him, not to the store...nowhere, and that I had free will choice. He pretended to turn around, but he did not. He was abducting me! I said a prayer, then in another surreal turn of events, I jumped out of the moving vehicle.

I hid until I knew he was gone. I was bruised and shaken. After I got back to where I was staying, I learned that he had just met him that night at a bar and the guy had just given my nephew a ride home. One day later, I flew back home.

That's making the story short. So, my own personal experience of someone saying they worked with someone who didn't in order to deceive and manipulate, makes that a distinct possibility.

Either way, the truth will eventually emerge. I have faith in that.

MM