Transcription
Oh, I get kind of emotional like watching this because it's just like, I mean, he just did something that most pilots can't do. Like, that's an insane trick, right? Why? Why was he doing the bags?
>> Seattle ground, uh, horizon guy, um, about to take off. It's going to be crazy.
>> Aircraft on Charlie. Uh, lining up runway 16 center. Say your call sign.
>> The D8 on runway 1, 16 center. Say your call sign.
>> The -8 on runway 16 center. Say your call.
>> Who is the -8 holding on runway 1, 16 center?
>> Alaska 322. That aircraft was passing behind the horizon when he was taking off roll and I don't know what he was doing.
>> Who's the aircraft on runway 16 center?
>> Wheels are smoking left to right, uh, as they are right now as he's rolling down the runway.
>> All right. I'm not even talking to him.
>> He came flying out of the uh, out of the cargo area in front of Duna. Came out of cargo area one. It's just a single, single pilot.
>> Yeah, tower. We can verify that, too. He came flying out of nowhere. We thought missed somebody calling it, uh, put him in front of us, but he came flying.
>> All right. Thank you.
>> Ter. You need to call and scramble now.
>> No, we are.
>> Hey, Horizon Ground, you on Seattle ground? I mean,
>> Who is transmitting on ramp?
>> Horizon guy 449 Quebec X-ray.
>> Yeah, 449. What can I do for you?
>> Hey, uh, I found myself in a bit of a predicament. I'm in the air right now and just kind of soaring around.
>> 449, are you not supposed to be on that aircraft?
>> Uh, yeah. Uh, I did a, did a kind of a bad thing, kind of a selfish thing. Um, but it's all good. I'm going to go check out Reindeer.
>> Yeah. 449. So, you hijacked the plane, is what you're saying?
>> Yeah, I, uh, I'm afraid I did.
>> What the hell?
>> Holy [ __ ]
>> Oh my god.
>> The [ __ ] Alaska Airlines Q400. What the [ __ ] is he doing over here?
>> Uh, any idea if a D8 Q400 can do a barrel roll?
>> Just flying the plane around. Do you seem comfortable with that?
>> Oh, hell yeah. It's a blast, man. I played video games before, so I uh, you know, I know what I'm doing a little bit. N everything's peachy peachy clean. Just did a little circle around here. It's beautiful. I think I got some gas to go check out uh, the Olympics. And uh, yeah, well, if you can see the Olympics, the weather's good. I can see the Olympics from my window and it looks pretty good over there. All right. Cuz I, I hit some uh, felt like turbulent around right here, but there's no clouds hardly.
>> Oh, that's just the uh, the wind blowing over all the bumpy surfaces there.
>> Oh, copy that.
>> Man, have you been to the Olympics? You guys are gorgeous. Holy.
>> Yeah, I have been out there. It's, it's always a nice drive. This is probably uh, like jail time for life, huh? I mean, I would hope it is for a guy like me.
>> Damn it, Andrew. People's lives are at stake here.
>> Now, Rich, don't, don't say stuff like that.
>> No, I told you. I'm not, I don't want to hurt no one. I just want you to whisper sweet nothing to my ear.
>> Hey, Rich. This is Captain Bill here. We're still uh, listening. My airplane's doing uh, just fine. How's yours?
>> I got a lot of people that care about me and uh, it's going to disappoint them to to hear that I did this. Um, I would like to apologize to each and every one of them. Um, just a broken guy. Got a few screws loose, I guess. Never really knew it until now. Hey, pilot guy. Can this thing do a uh, a backflip? Do you think?
>> Well, I'd try to figure out how to use the autopilot first.
>> If you were to do it, how would you do it?
>> Hey, you think if I land this successfully, uh, Lap will give you a job as pilot?
>> Uh, you know, I think they would give you a job doing anything if you could pull this off.
>> Yeah, right. I'm going to land it like uh, in a safe, safe kind of manner. I think I'm uh, think I'm going to try to do a barrel roll and if that goes good, I'll just go nose down and call the night.
>> Take off war one. Uh, PI1 just completed a barrel roll. Confirm he did a barrel roll.
>> A BM he cleared the surface of the water by approximately 10 ft.
>> Put rock two from rock one and the TI1 did a barrel roll and just barely missed hitting the water.
>> All right, Rich. This is Captain Phil. Congratulations. You did that. Now, let's uh, let's try to land that airplane safely and not hurt anybody on the ground.
>> All right. God damn it. I DON'T KNOW, MAN. I DON'T KNOW. I don't want to. I was kind of hoping that was going to be it. You know, along, I feel like one of my instruments is going out or something. I've watched this like 20 times. Like, how does a guy? Oh my god. Like, oh, I get kind of emotional like watching this cuz it's just like, I mean, he just did something that most pilots can't do. Like, that's an insane trick, right? Why? Why was he doing the bags? Okay, I'm going to bring up. I don't know. I want Doug MPA's take because I just, I found out about this yesterday and I'm like, what the [ __ ] We could do a call-in show. Like, why do you think he did it? Like, why do? Let me read the actually, let me read the comments. Oh [ __ ] this is on Axe. Someone posted this on Axe. On this day in 2018, 28-year-old Richard Russell, forever known as Sky King, borrowed an airplane from the Seattle Tacoma airport for a joy ride for over an hour before crashing onto a remote island. He did a pretty epic barrel roll. You wonder what it felt like in the sunset to pull back on that stick among the clouds, watching the horizon slip by as the plane came over, seeing the water rushing towards him, doubtful of whether or not he was going to make it. He only made that roll by a few degrees. It must have been the most exhilarating moment of his whole life. That altitude would have felt like kissing the water. It must have felt like destiny. The plane practically skimming the water, surrounded by the hills of the nearby island, slingshotting back out that right bank he made afterwards and all the speed he built from coming down. He clearly didn't expect to live. I was kind of hoping it would be over. You know, it must have felt like a rebirth, a total willingness to die, complete commitment to the cause. I'm expecting to avoid the water. And then incomprehensible exhilaration. Then only a few moments later he crashes into an empty island going out in the high note of his existence. In the moment of the image that it's used as a si symb symbol, he is pulling back hard through a bank after that role. I'm certain he has the biggest smile on his face and he felt totally free. Nobody can copycat what he did because he did it on total faith with no expectation of outcome. Rich was just a man trying to live. Others would just be men trying to be rich. Richard Sky King Russell is the spirit of every person alive today in the west who has that feeling which is in more or less of us. That feeling of hopelessness and lack of purpose where one has no choice but to serve the machine and be ex extracted for their worth before they are discarded with the only thing to show for their toils the benefit of others bank accounts. No personal achievements, no fulfillments, no feeling of being alive. But he made it. He got out in the final act of a glorious rebellion. He slipped sure that surely the bonds of this earth we live on and took himself for the greatest freedom man has ever known. We're all Richard. We all suffer under the crushing weight of the 21st century life that we created. In short, our bodies last longer, but we never live. He lived, if only for a be brief, beautiful moment. He lived truly as a free man, living man's oldest dream, completely free. He soared through the skies and put on his hand and touched the face of God. He is without question one of the greatest heroes to ever live. and his final act of rebellion is to me unironically one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
Um, let's see what else. Fly high brother. That airframe should be completely incapable of the arerobatics that he pulled. Dude is a [ __ ] legend. Sad story, but I don't blame him for ditching him there. That would have been an ungodly prison sentence. I'm curious if you guys have thoughts on how long you think his prison sentence would have been. I don't know why. Maybe it's the woman in me, but I feel as though he would, it wouldn't have been life. I just don't know how anybody could hear that and not have sympathy for the