Week in Geek Podcast: The saga of the stolen plane — and the flaws it revealed in airport security

After his shift final week, Horizon Airways worker Richard Russell efficiently stole a medium-sized aircraft and flew it throughout Western Washington, performing aerial stunts with F15 fighter jets on his tail, for almost an hour earlier than crashing right into a small island within the Puget Sound.

The incident caught the eye of the nation for its weird nature and the preliminary confusion and terror following the aircraft’s takeoff. And though it didn’t finish in an act of mass violence, Russel’s flight has sparked critical questions on airport safety.

How was somebody with no identified flying expertise capable of efficiently steal a aircraft with out anybody noticing? Why did he wish to achieve this? And what will be achieved to cease one thing like this from taking place once more?

We deal with these questions on this particular episode of the Week in Geek Podcast, the place we additionally share snippets of Russell’s rambling dialog with air visitors management as he roams the skies.

Take heed to this episode of the Week In Geek within the participant beneath or subscribe to the GeekWire Podcast in your favourite podcast app to listen to each episode.

This week’s tales:

• Airline worker steals aircraft from Sea-Tac, does aerial tips with F-15s in pursuit earlier than crashing on island south of Seattle
• Contained in the stolen passenger aircraft: ‘I performed video video games earlier than, so I do know what I’m doing, somewhat bit’
• Port of Seattle steps up Sea-Tac airport safety presence after deadly airplane theft
• Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch enterprise rolls out world’s greatest airplane for weekend exams