Stolen Q400 crash

Did the pilot have any flying experience? He seemed to fly very well with no training.

Apparently he did not. I find it extremely hard to believe though. I guess we will see what all comes out of the investigation.

Just when you thought things couldn't get any more weird....!!!

The guys mental health is obviously a sticky wicket to discuss and I am not in a position to add anything.
I wish him the best in the next life.

A few discuss points.
He did some crazy stunts so I have to assume he knew how to fly and was trained on that aircraft. But it is advised he was not. Eh?
He was not shot down by the F-15s but ran out of fuel.
There is footage of him doing a roll and split s and pulling up just metres above a lake. Amazing stuff.

The "pilot" admitted to learning to "fly" with a simulator several times during traffic with ATC.

A simulator then you're throwing an aircraft about like a stunt pilot?
I dunno.

I also read that he claimed to have learned to fly using computer games.

That will add some fuel on the Flight sim discussion here on the forum

For the rest, the bastard was crazy. Could well have gone wrong and killed other people, luckily he didn't do that.

Certainly good no others were hurt. The kinds of things he could fly to a degree how he managed to do this is up for debate.

Looked to me like he tried to roll the aircraft but didnt make it and it ended up diving vertically so when he pulled out just above the water it looked like a split S.
i dont think he intended to do what he did, i think just wanted to do a 360' roll.

just my tuppence worth

His general health is not my expertise so must leave that one.
But he did manage to fly an aircraft off a runway and do so serious moves.
Can a flight sim teach him how to start the engines and flaps and landing gear and rotate speed? I would assume the Q400 uses fly by wire which makes life easy.

The Basket said:

But he did manage to fly an aircraft off a runway and do so serious moves.
Can a flight sim teach him how to start the engines and flaps and landing gear and rotate speed? I would assume the Q400 uses fly by wire which makes life easy.

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I've done similar stuff just for grins in a B737-800 on Flight Sim X. When my friend Kathleen was waiting for her class date at American, we set up a computer with multiple monitors to display all the panels and downloaded the patches to configure it like AA's planes. She had her study materials which included AA's checklists, flight profiles, and crew coordination protocols. (Which were not at all like Microsoft's). I got plenty of "flight time" as a PNF "captain" while she practiced being a PF "FO".
I also did a few joyrides just for giggles and got a feel for the flight dynamics a la Microsoft. After some practice, I was able to do some fundamental aerobatics without breaking the airplane or the earth's surface. It's all about judicious use of trim, as you can't hope to "muscle" it. Needless to say, with that slick airframe, you have to allow for A LOT of altitude loss on the down side of any maneuver. I found myself "dishing out" of attempted rolls, just as Rich did,(drained off too much energy by the time you're "over the top" to maintain positive G, and the nose falls through) which reminded me of my early attempts in the T-34 and the 150 Acrobat.
The 737 and the Q are similar in that they're basic "stick and rudder" airplanes to which stretches, thrust, and "afterthought" FBW-like bells and whistles have been added. As Kathleen described it: "A model A Ford with a mind-blowing stereo system and a back up camera!" DeHaviland/Canadair built a "hell for stout" machine in the Dash-8, as in all their previous birds, and despite his clumsy attempts, Rich couldn't break it in the air. Sounds like he hadn't practiced engine-out, assymetric thrust flying, as he apparently couldn't control it when one engine quit. He probably didn't have the autofeather armed, so when the first engine ran dry he would have had a windmilling prop and an almost irresistible yaw and roll into the dead engine. Your "Microsoft License" will not have prepared you for the instantaneous and powerful rudder effort that situation requires. (90+ lbs in an ATR-72, which is a roughly comparable aircraft).
Like others here, I'm no psychiatrist, but I think whatever Rich's motivation, he appears to have done his homework for his grand final gesture.
American's and Eagle's planes have card readers in the cockpit, where the flight crew have to insert their ID cards before they can fire up the bird. Only the assigned crew and/or the duty mechanic can "light up the cockpit". Access is programmed remotely from Dispatch or Ops. It's a function of ACARS. Betcha this gets mandated as an industry standard. Also, expect pressure to limit public access to accurate aircraft and flight data via computer games, enthusiast publications, and loose controls on training and operational documents.
East Bloc style security, here we come!
Heads up, folks!
Cheers,
Wes

Tex Johnson did a barrel roll in a 707...Any aircraft can do aerobatics, at least once...

That guy in the Q was lucky (initially) with his stunts and barely pulled out of that one loop before hitting the water. Had he been a little lower initially or bled off a little more speed, the event would have ended right there.

He was a mechanic or ground crew who had authority to run and taxi the aircraft, so he had some training on the aircraft and knew the ground ops procedures, etc.

I would agree than a quick knee jerk reaction to this event are likely although not sure what can be done.
The guy seemed to be a baggage handler so not sure how much cockpit time he would have.
I am still none the wiser about his experiences to fly the aircraft. Even if he knew every dial and switch as a complete novice surely he shouldn't have even got off the ground.

gumbyk said:

He was a mechanic or ground crew who had authority to run and taxi the aircraft, so he had some training on the aircraft and knew the ground ops procedures, etc.

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No he wasn't. He was a ground service wroker. He loaded bags, and drove the tow vehicle. He did not have authorization to ground run or taxi the aircraft.

Richard Russell: Details emerge of a 'compassionate' man after Seattle plane heist and fiery crash

He stated that he did not plan to land. Maybe he did just what he wanted and went out with a bang.
Just my two cents.

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:

No he wasn't. He was a ground service wroker. He loaded bags, and drove the tow vehicle. He did not have authorization to ground run or taxi the aircraft.

Richard Russell: Details emerge of a 'compassionate' man after Seattle plane heist and fiery crash

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O.K., the news was reporting that he was a mechanic and held an authorisation - obviously mis-reported down here.

He may have been a mechanic and baggage handler, but he knew his way around a cockpit. Your average baggage handler just cannot walk into the cockpit of a modern airliner, start it up and taxi and fly it without spending time there with people who know what they are doing. A home flight simulator just doesn't give you any real information about what to expect, nor handle the aeroplane on the ground and in the air. You have to know what you are doing in order to pull something off like that. From switching on the apu to lighting the engines, and then there's taxying. A big turboprop like a Q400 has a lot of grunt and moving the power levers out of flight idle would mean he'd go rocketing across the tarmac uncontrollably, unless he had prior knowledge on how to do it - pull the power levers into beta.

We've been discussing this at work at length and there's no way he could have done what he did without spending time in the cockpit. Then we asked each other, who would be the crazy mofo who would do it among us!

Fair play to the lad coz he did a impressive job.
But how he did it must be found out because if any Joe Q Sixpack can get into a modern airliner and start flying then we in trouble.
For sure, whatever job he had he had access to the aircraft and during downtime he may have sat in the cockpit because I read he also did interior cleaning although no idea if that's correct. He may have sat in during engine checks or test flights so who knows.
In this day and age he lucky not to have been shot down

This is now a criminal investigation so I would expect a thorough check on the guy to find out his capacity. He did pass a background check and from what poor quality media reports have said he sounds like a nice guy. So will have to wait for the crash report to find some answers.