Beebo, born Richard Russell, passed away on August 10th, 2018 at age 28 in Dash 8 Q400 aircraft as he nosedived after his joyride. He is not only hailed as a legend for the hijack but is hailed as a martyr for men’s mental health. Beebo, the nickname he was given by his loved ones and friends, was part of ground crew personnel for the Horizon Air at the Seattle-Tacoma airport. The 10th was just like any other day with Beebo directing and lining up the Dash 8 Q400, it only took seven seconds to turn the warm sunny weathered day upside down. As the aircraft slowly rolled to position Beebo ran and climbed in last second hijacking the plane and taking it airborne.
Although security in airports have increased drastically throughout the years after 200, but that mainly focused on the people visiting the airport and not unassuming already hired employees. Many of the employees, especially the ones on the tarmac, were overworked due to not having enough employees, and a lot of two man jobs often turned into one man jobs. This was the case just before 7 PM for Beebo. Despite needing two ground control workers, only one (Beebo) was available to move the aircraft to the proper Concourse for Maintenance. During this time, he took the steps to set the plane up for take off instead of to move it for maintenance. Due to being ground control, his clearance allowed him to by pass all authorizations. Since there was an understaffed tarmac as well as only one security guard who was focused on the still arriving planes, no one saw Beebo hijack the plane until it was already in the air and too late. Plus, it is said since he was so fast, only taking seven seconds, that there wasn’t anyone could safely do to stop him anyways.
Despite only being a ground control Beebo managed to have what many say is “Dark Luck.” He had a clear runway and the ability to lift the plane in the air without proper training at 7:33PM according to FBI Documents.
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