Chris Cuomo asks the tough questions to newsmakers in Washington and around the world. Chased the plane. So that addresses what Josh Campbell was telling us a second ago. Two f15s chased the plane but were not involved in the crash. So, again, if this is to be believed, the f15s did not shoot that down that play. Lets bring in zack helm. He sat the Seatac Airport right new and joins me on the phone. Zack, i understand you saw this plane while it was airborne . I did not see the plane airborne, but i was this the terminal where it supposedly came out of. Okay. Tell me a little bit what you know, what you saw. Anything you can tell us. Well, i was in the plane, about to take off in the time that it was hijacked. In that very plane . I was not in the plane that was hijacked. I was in another plane in the Alaska Airline industry. And i did not see it take off. But i was told to get out of my plane because if there has been a hijacking. In other words, how long before departure was this . How long before your flight was supposed to take off . We were all boarded and we were about to go on to the runway. We had gotten all the luggage, everyone had been boarded we had been seated, the instructional video had been done, and we were ready to go. And then the news came to us. I in other words, minutes before you guys were going to be airborne. Correct. Minutes before they got all the passengers off your airplane. Correct. Did they tell you why . Yes. They were saying an employee had stolen the plane, had attempted or had tried but crashed the plane. This was coming from the Airline Officials . Yes. So detail that message for us, because honestly, it surprises me. When something goes wrong, when youre airborne or anywhere in an airplane or a plane, usually the officials manning the plane, whether its the stewards, the
captain, usually theyre pretty coy about what they say to the passengers. Right. I think he said that because he was trying to get us safely off the plane so Nothing Happened while we were land. All right. So he told you. I just want to doublecheck with this. He told you an employee had hijacked a plane and was in the air, and thats why everybody had to get out . Yes. What happened after that . We all got off the plane into the terminal, like every other airline, or Alaska Airlines flight and we waited in the terminal. So at this point im assuming that the terminal is starting to fill up as this is happening to all the planes around you that were scheduled to take off roughly in that time slot. Right. All right. Okay, thanks. Stay with me for a second. Were pulling in all the threads of information here. Were working on this as i speak to you and Josh Campbell as well. What were getting now from the Pierce County sheriff, and thats where all the previous
information came to us from is this is not a terrorist incident. Confirmed info, this is a single suicide male. We know who he is. No others involved. Okay. Zack, let me just go to you for a second. You were minutes away from finding yourself airborne. With apparently a suicidal plane. Just how do you feel . Kind of scary to think about. Yeah. Were you traveling alone . I was traveling with my mom, but shes not sitting next to me. Okay. What is she saying . She was pretty mellow. She was kind of she was feeling good that we were safe in the terminal. All right. Okay. Zack helm, look, thank you so much for giving us your story and twhoopd you at seattletacoma airport. Thats great. Zach, well speak to you a little later. Thanks a again. Now i want to read this tweet by
Alaska Airlines. Weve confirmed a Horizon Air Q400 that had an unauthorized takeoff from seatac around 8 00 p. M. Has gone down near tetron island in Pierce County, washington. Were working to confirm who was on board. We believe there were no guests or crew on board other than the person operating the plane. First of all, if that is true, let me just say that is a relief. No passengers. We are obviously keeping our fingers crossed that that indeed turns out to be true. Turns out to be accurate. No passengers, no other staff on board. Let me go back to josh. Josh, there are so many things about this story that are striking. Is it how easy it is to how easy is it to take off in a q400. Im just looking at a picture of the plane. Were not talking about a tiny plane. A little less skill than a jet aircraft. You think of the larger jumbo
jets flying in and out of seatac and some of the Major International airports. One thing that is interesting to keep in mind, just for the public that had flown, that are used to these airports and kind of the ins and outs of commercial flying, if you think about it, if a mechanic were to try to hijack an airport that was sitting at a commercial gate, there is no way that a mechanic could make his or her way into the cockpit and then somehow, you know, back the plane up from a gate. It doesnt happen that way. These aircraft are pushed out by a team of Ground Personnel that gives me a little more comfort obviously. This is a very serious security breach, but this tells me that this is likely an aircraft that was sitting at a hangar somewhere, that may have been undergoing routine maintenance, may have been part where they sit and wait to come into the get for an aircraft to take off the next day. But this isnt like it was sitting at a gate, waiting to take off full of passengers. There is no way one person can do that, to make that take place, which makes it probably more an aircraft that is sitting in a hangar that is under maintenance that this person had access to probably in the course of his or her duties was able to get on board the aircraft, was able to manipulate the controls, was able to get it out to the runway and up to speed. Obviously a tragic situation. Were sitting here look agent that plane crash. Well dont know what the circumstances are there on the ground in Pierce County, if there are other people that may have been impacted. At least the best case, if there is one that you compare to an aircraft that is full of passengers. Thats good news. The second being this is something that aircraft employee, not only there in seattle, but ntsb, airline employees around the country, indeed around the world are going to be looking at. Because the one thing theyre always trying to determine is what is the threat, what is the risk that we have here. And again, any operation is only as safe as the men and women that are actually involved in it. And airline employees and pilots will actually undergo
psychological screening. Its a little less so obviously for mechanics because they dont have the same type of access, the same type of control when youre involving other people, other passengers, other souls aboard aircraft. But obviously very serious. If somebody who has access to an aircraft is able to get it off the ground and it becomes airborne if they have other sinister means that theyre attempting to employee, thats obviously a very dangerous threat to the Public Safety. Again, there are a lot of questions that we have right now. A lot of answers that we dont have. I think the only silver lining, and obviously this is a tragedy, but you didnt have somebody that appeared to be trying to take off and vector that aircraft the a large highly populated area that would then cause massive life of life. We dont know. We cant get into this persons mind. No, no. And im looking at pictures of Ketron Island. Its very low density population. Fingers crossed. We dont know what the situation is on the ground. Obviously there is was plane
crash and thats dangerous. Just from the pictures it looks like to is a distinct possibility that this could have landed in the forest and not killed anymore. Josh campbell, thank you so much. Im going to bring the latest information to our viewers. The Pierce County sheriff is tweeting, and sheriff, we hear you loud and clear. He is saying im working with the fbi and military. All the information sent out here is confirmed. Sheriff paul pastor will be the contact. Here whats we know at what is still a fairly early hour in this developing story. We know that a plane was stolen. It was stolen by a mechanic working at seatac. Thats the Seattletacoma International Airport in washington state. Northwestern United States for our international viewers. That plane took off, and two f15 fighter jets were scrambled, but they did not shoot it down, again, according to the county sheriff. They were not involved in the crash. The reason the plane crashed, according to the sheriff, is because of the lack of flying
skills of the mechanic who had taken it and flown the plane in the first place. Al also vital information, there were no passengers and staff, no one else aboard this plane. It was a q400. David soucie, from denver, colorado. Tell us a little more about the plane, the q400. Its a twin turboprop. Its one that has had some kind of issues with some icing and things like that in the past. But its a great airport. Its a good backbone airport for a lot of Commuter Airlines right now. Have you ever seen anything like this . Have you ever been called up to report on a story that even remotely resembles this one . Yeah, ive investigated an accident like this one time. A Suicide Flight . Well, it wasnt really a Suicide Flight. As josh was saying, it may have just been from the lack of skill of the mechanic. But mechanics often routinely
can take airplanes up. If you have lack of skill and you dont know how to fly a plane and you steal a plane, thats what many see as a Suicide Flight because youre not going to land it. Thats a good possibility, but we dont know what he was thinking and doing. I would be more concerned about his intent. And again, it would have been suicide. But i think the Public Safety issue is the biggest concern of anyone right now. What was his intent when he took that airport. It wasnt just for a joy flight, thats for sure. If there is suicide, there is other ways to go. What do you mean by what was his intent . It was his intent to get the airport up and put into it a populated area. The Public Safety is my biggest concern because he has a weapon on his hands at that point. And it could very well be dangerous for many people on the ground. What is your thinking based on what we know . And i know its sketchy. Well, its too early to say anything really as we dont know
what he was doing. But my early take on this is that the mechanic has it is a vulnerability for the airlines and for our whole industry right now is that the ability for a mechanic to take an aircraft out alone. Now, there is protocol where he should not have been in that airplane alone at all. If he was taxiing out and asked for clearance to get to the taxi way, that airplane would have been stopped long before it got a runway to take off and should have been at seatac, unless he was telling the tower or something different. Telling them a story that ive got to go out and run this aircraft. Im going to test the engines, et cetera, et cetera. Mechanics have pretty free rein to do that. And so this one went a little bit further. So when you say when you say this was a vulnerability for the industry, do you mean that before today, you had it in mind that mechanics were perhaps in a kind of were in a position to super lotto a loophole or
weakness in the Security System . Yes, i do. I think thats something that it is something ive thought of before. Its something that Security Experts have talked about before, and thats why there is protocol that the no mechanic should be taxiing a mechanic on a runway or anywhere on the tarmac without two niam the aircraft. So how he got in that aircraft himself, by himself and got clearance to go out, thats the vulnerability, the fact that they didnt follow protocol there needs to be tightened rein on. This. David, stay with me. I want to bring you updates. Theyre coming to us from the Pierce County sheriff. First of all, the last one that he put up was just moments ago. All right. So this one first. Follow this thread for official info. This is not a terrorist incident. Confirmed info. This is a single suicide male. We know who he is. No others involved. Thats important. Not a terrorist incident. David, i know youre saying he has that improvised pilot, that
mechanic cum pilot had a weapon in his hands. But the sheriff is telling us that theyre working background on him. He is a 29yearold suicidal male, and this was not a terrorist incident. I also want to bring you this last tweet by the sheriff. Told that the f15s made it within a few minutes of theft of the plane. The pilots kept plane out of harms way, and people on the ground are safe. Yay, air force. They may not admit for a few days, but its true. That has to put a smile on anybodys face that has been following this story. Yes, absolutely. Ever since 9 11, the Response Time of these military jets is so quick, especially around that seattle area and around any large metropolitan area. If there is an. They is off radar, if there is an aircraft that is not supposed to be there, does not have authorization, its amazing how quickly they can respond to that. Thats what protocol for
that . What are they supposed to do . The protocol is to fly and monitor. And you fly and monitor to see what the direction of the aircraft. You identity what the hazard areas are, when they go over highly Populated Areas and that sort of thing. So the aircraft, they try to guide the eight, to get close to it on one side and push the aircraft one way or the other, making the pilot nervous to say im going to get hit if i keep going that way. So they guide them away from the city, guide them away. And if the aircraft is not in eminent danger to a high population, theyll just let that aircraft fly and run out of gas if it has to. But if its going to harm anything anyone at that point, they are authorized to shoot that aircraft down. David, stay with me. Were going to take a quick break, and ill speak to you right on the back of this. In the u. S. Park its americas most popular street name. But Allstate Agents know thats where the similarity stops. If youre on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the Washoe Zephyr could damage your siding. And thats very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. But no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local Allstate Agents knows yours. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . When you rent from national. Its kind of like playing your own version of best ball. Because here, you can choose any car in the aisle, even if its a better car class than the one you reserved. So no matter what, youre guaranteed to have a perfect drive. [laughter] vo go national. Go like a pro. See what i did there . Its a revolution in sleep. The new sleep number 360 smart bed, from 999. Intelligently senses your movement and automatically adjusts on each side to keep you both comfortable. And snoring . How smart is that . Smarter sleep. To help you lose your dad bod, train for that marathon, and wake up with the patience of a saint. And now, save up to 500 on select sleep number 360 smart beds. Plus, no interest until january 2021. Ends wednesday. It was a quq400. David, let me remind the people what we know. Were being told it was Mecke Frick The Airport who stole the plane. He was 29 years old. He was from Pierce County. The Sheriffs Department is currently working background on him. More importantly, they were saying this is not a terrorist incident. This was a Suicide Flight mission. Also of key importance here, there was no one else on the plane with him. So no one else was killed in the crash. And no one else on the ground. And two f15s, two f15 fighter jets were scrambled. And they steered the plane away from a danger zone. Thats what were being told by the Pierce CountySheriffs Department. Tells us a little bit about how that works. You were telling us before the break. Yes, they box the aircraft in. And im not sure how fast or how
quickly this aircraft was traveling through the air. But those particular aircraft are able to go to different speeds, and theyll actually bank to the aircraft. No matter where the pilot looks, he is not going to steer into the jets. Theyre very, very ominous. Thinking that he could fly one way or the other. Now the only thing that concerns me than, if i was in those airplanes is this f this is a mechanic who is not an experienced pilot. Yeah, how does he react to that. Probably move a little farther away, but trying to keep that aircraft into the right area. Okay. The pictures were seeing, its hard to judge the side of the perimeter where were seeing flames and plane debris. Fortunately, Ketron Island where it landed is a very low density, low population area. Are you seeing the pick checks, david, that im seeing . No, i cant see them right now. I did earlier. Its nighttime. Were seeing flames in the forest. I was just going to ask you what the danger was. And we dont know the specifics of the speed at which the plane was flying, et cetera. But in a crash like that of how far, how wide a perimeter is endangered when a Plane Crashes like that. Well, it depends on the angle of attack. If its going in more perpendicular, it can vary from even the 737 crash in Colorado Springs here was only a Scatter Pattern of about 50 feet wide, 50 by 60. So it could be that small, or it can be turned out across hundreds and hundreds of yards because if it skids across, it will take itself apart. If the engines are under full power, it can pull the wings further apart. So you can get quite a Scatter Pattern. Even though thats not a densely populated area, there are homes out there and that are homes in that area. So the chance that pieces of
that aircraft could have come down is still a possibility. Cnn Law Enforcement analyst Josh Campbell is standing by. He is with us too. Josh from what we know, this is not a terrorist incident, this was a Suicide Mission, this is a vulnerability in the system, the mechanics getting access to plane. Can you comment to that . It is. And this is obviously any type of incident happens but you say it hold on. Josh, just a second. We knew it was vulnerability . Well, what im saying is obviously in any organization or structure where you have its only as safe as the weakest link. In these incidents where you talk about aircraft that are involving passengers, there is a lot of scrutiny that goes into pilots and psychological analysis and the like, obviously less so when we talk about mechanics because theyre not actually ferrying human beings and passengers along with them. But that doesnt mean its not dangerous. Obviously you a pilot or a mechanic rather that has access
to an aircraft, that can quickly turn into a weapon, as we see. Say this person had that as his or her motivation that they want the take this aircraft off and use it as some type of offensive weapon, wed obviously be talking about something very different right now. And that is obviously a vulnerability. But any type of incident likes this, the investigators will be looking back to determine what went wrong and what can we change as far as the structures that are in place to ensure that this does not happen again. This will be part of the ntsb investigation that will take place to actually look at this structure, to look at the processes, as david was mentioning earlier. Even a protocol as simple of having two people aboard an aircraft before it takes off. If this is someone who was able to gain access because perhaps it was sitting in a hangar or elsewhere where it was outside the view of other people and security personnel, if one person was able to get on the aircraft and manipulate because he had access to it thats obviously an issue and thats going to be scrutiny that were going to see. Two issue, the access and what brought this aircraft to a halt
that will all be part oafter that investigation. All right. Josh campbell, our Law Enforcement analyst, david uss soucie, im going speak to both of you on the back of this break. Fbly this raises questions. What were the Safety Screenings for the Mecke Snhanimechanic . Did he go through all the proper vetting for anybody who w. H. O. C can have access. Its going to take days to get these answers. We go to a short break. We keep asking the questions after this. Know what . No, what . I just switched to geico and got more. More . Got a company i can trust. Thats a heck of a lot more. Over 75 years of great savings and service. You cant argue with more. Why would ya . Geico. Expect great savings and a whole lot more. Just like that. Like everything. The answer is simple. Ill do what ive always done. Dream more, dream faster, and above all. Now, ill dream gig. Now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. Rapidly developing news. We can bring you more information on that aircraft, which crash new years day seattle, washington after a mechanic stole it from seattles main airport. I want to show you the video now that we are getting about a minute or so of footage of the plane of you see it looping. And were going to keep following this. This is just incredible to watch. So this is the context, if
youre just joining us. A mechanic stole the plane from seattle what is this guy doing . You heard the voice there. What is this guy doing . This is a Suicide Mission. This is what the Pierce County sheriff is telling us. This was a Suicide Mission from the 29yearold mechanic who stole the plane and did not have the ability to land it, again, according to the sheriff. Two f15 fighter jets within minutes were on either side of that plane, and then forced it to land, or at least steered it away from the information we have now from population centers. We are joined by Josh Campbell, cnn Law Enforcement analyst and mary schiavo, cnn aviation analyst. Mary, were seeing the f15s. This is very impressive stuff. Mary, are you seeing what im seeing . I am. Im seeing it on the air. Okay. This is your field. Tell me what you think. You know, to be able to do a maneuver like that, its obviously not coordinated loop
and turn. I mean, one summer i actually worked the air shows a long, long time ago. Theyre hard to do. I mean, you cant hop in a plane, a beginning pilot or somebody whose just gotten wait, youre telling me the loop that were seeing now, thats hard to do . To me that looks like somebody who doesnt know how to fly a plane, who is just hanging on by the skin of his teeth. Youre telling me thats a maneuver he may have done on purpose . Well, it could be. He is able to do this, he comes out of it in the video im seeing, he is able to pull it out. Yeah, this is daredevil stuff. And fly again. Thats yeah, if youre able to do that and keep the plane flying, kit be very difficult. It could also be somebody who just got lucky, doesnt know how to fly. Is this plane easy to fly . Pardon . Is this plane easy to fly . Its a q400. I wouldnt say easy to fly. Its a twinengine plane. If youve just got a few hours
as a private pilot, you start a single england. Thats your first rating. And here is the f15s. On a plane without retractible gear, and somebody you know, obviously a mecke sikh already qualified. To be able to do this and move the plane at the airport, that i have to have whats call and run and taxi qualified. Meaning this person was already qualified to do that at the airport. I mean, if you have access to the planes mary, respectfully, let me interrupt you. What is that run and Taxi Qualification . What can somebody who has that conversation, what can they do and what can they not do presumably . Oh, okay. Well if a mechanic has run and Taxi Qualification, literally, that person is allowed to move the aircraft around the airport. Theyre allowed to start the plane. Theyre allowed to run the plane. They can move the plane from point a to point b. From the cockpit, correct . Sitting in the pilots seat . Sure. And there have been accidents before where mechanics with this what you call run and a taxi qualify have had accidents. Theyve run off the runways. They havent flown the plane like, this but theyve run off the runways, hit jet bridges. Theyve had incidents where they hit other plane at the airport. So its not unusual. In fact, its day to day occurrence where a mechanic does have this ability. And theyre allow to be cleared by air traffic control. They have to ask for the clearances before they move the plane just like the pilot would. And so initially, it wouldnt be considered odd for a mechanic to ask, you know, permission to move the plane, to taxi the plane because they do that if theyre qualified to do that and they have this permission. They do it all the time. Its not odd. Okay. So whats the gap in terms of
know how, in terms of skill in terms of being able to taxi the plane and then being able to at a stretch in a pinch just take off. Im not and im in no way suggesting that a mechanics skill level is not far from that of a pilot. Right. But i ask this question because i think anybody whose taken flying lessons, i took one, will relate to. This if you get in a tiny twoseert, within an hour of training, you are in a position to basically turn the engine on and pull on the lever and with enough speed, you get up in the air and youre airborne. So thats my question. How much of a gap is there between the mechanic knowing the sorry, the Taxi Qualification and being able to take off . Well, if youre a mechanic on this plane, you already know that. If youve had a few lessons in a small single Engine Airport and you know the Takeoff Speed as youre rolling down the runway,
you know the very important speed, the v 1 and v 2. V1 is the speed where you can take off. And v2 is the speed where you cant abort your takeoff anymore. I mean, if youre a mechanic, you already know those speeds because theyre in the manual. If have you v a flight simulator, or you had some lessons, you know what speed rolling down the runway, you can pull become on the yoke, and youre airborne. However, looking at the video, and again, im watching on the screen like Everybody Else, but look at the video, hes got the gear retracted or she, whoever the mechanic is, has the gear retracted. So they obviously are very familiar and they know how to do that on the plane. So this is the mechanic, once you know all the systems on the plane and you know the important airspeed, you could do it, sure. So this is clearly somebody whose skills go quite a bit beyond. Well, i think so. Yeah, like i said, if this was
somebodys first flight or they just pulling back on the yoke , and lifting off for the first time is a wonderful thrill, remember way back to my first flight, but its also very scary. But i dont believe. This i think this person has the skills, maybe has some training, maybe has Flight Simulators at home. But, you know, to do a loop in an aircraft that is not an aerobatic aircraft, and to pull out of it, come out of it okay and keep flying, you know, there are people who tried it with lots of skills and have crashed. I dont know. I think the person had skill. Mary, stand by. Bear with me. Quick break. And when we come back, i want to ask you about the Security Aspect of this. We know what its like to learn from the best. We know theres nothing quite like watching a son rise. We know that whats outside can change whats inside. We know the great outdoors. We love the great outdoors. Bass pro shops and cabelas are proud to salute you,
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Seattletacoma International Airport and then crashed a few moments later not far from seattle. Lets bring in john walter. He captured some of the remarkable video of the stole listen plane in the air. Thats what were showing you moments ago. John, tell me, tell me everything about the circumstances in which you filmed this. When did you look up . What made you look up. Tell me everything. Well, i went down to chambers bay for my nightly walk like i always do, and i noticed, excuse me, a couple Military Fighter Jets kind of flying around the area. I looked up and saw a Twin Turboprop Type Transport Aircraft flying around. And excuse me, sorry, and the two fighters were right behind him. I thought this looks kind of cool, like a little air show or something going on. But something didnt seem right. And so i took out my phone and started to videotape the
aircraft. And right about the time i started taping, just shortly after, i noticed this Transport Aircraft all of the sudden the pilot pulls the stick back, and he went into a complete loop. I thought my god, he is going to stall this thing and crash. He was able to get it controlled, level back off, and he was probably im going to guess maybe a little less than 100 feet or so above the water. Yeah. And he was coming straight toward me. So i thought my god, i got to get ready to run if he doesnt know what hes doing. He is going to kill somebody. And at the last second, he pulled back up, almost straight up, almost stalled the aircraft. He managed to get control again, leveled off, and then he flew off towards steilacoom. And at that point, i stopped the video and turned back around to watch the sunset, which is kind of what i went down there to do in the first place. Flew back. And as i look, i saw a flash and a very loud explosion. I think he just crashed that plane. Im not sure. You know, a lot of times theyll have explosive guys on the ground to simulate an explosion. But i thought not on Ketron Island. Okay, john, do we still have you on the line . All right. That was john waldron. Well get him back up on the line. But an amazing story he was telling us. John waldron is the man who shot what youre seeing on your screen right now, really stunning footage. So the q400 that had been stolen moments before from Seattletacoma International Airport being followed, chased by two f15 fighter jets. You saw the daredevil maneuver
just above the water, and moments later it crashed on Ketron Island. Well get john back up to talk than. Mary schiavo is still with us. Mary, one thing i should have asked you earlier. Tell us about seatac, seattletacoma international. How big an airport are we talking about . We are talking about a Major International airport with planes operating there from 777, to dreamliner, 787s, airbus aircraft. I mean, this is a major airport. You have a lot of flights landing there from china. Its obviously an airport with a lot of security because you have a lot of international flights. But, you have two very different worlds seatac or any major airport. You have the world, the sterile, sterile by meaning security, passengers deal with and that the tsa patrols and all that you see. But people and the rest of the airport, in the bowels of the airport they come to work through their own portals. It is a very different world for a mechanic at the airport. They come to work like Anyone Else Reporting for a job. So you dont ever see that part of the airport because it is on, what we call the air side or the sterile side of the airport. So they live an entirely different world. People in the airport probably never met this mechanic. Didnt come to work through the airport. Came to work through the employees portals. Two worlds. Mary, i remember three years ago, huge Airline Disaster cost many, many lives, 150 people killed. In that german wings crash in right. In Southern France in the pyrenees. It emerged from the story that the pilot was in a depressive state of mind. And he had Mental Health issues. And wanted to kill himself and killed Everybody Else on the plane. So, of course that raised many,
many questions afterwards. About whether he should have been cleared to even be flying that plane, whether the airline and whether the Civil Aviation authorities missed the signals. So the question i am going to ask you pretty much the same thing about a mechanic. We are being told this is a suicidal mechanic. What kind of vetting do you know occurs for mechanics . Well, the most the most rigorous vetting is on their in frame power plant skills. The most vetting that they get is whether theyre able to check the aircraft. Remember, to move a plane on the ground you are not considered, you know, being the pic, the pilot in command. All you have to do from your airline or from your aviation operation, you know, even express plane. All you have new be qualified to do is what i, mentioned before, is you run, and you are allowed to drive the plane as if you are driving a truck on the ground. Why . Because you are not, you are not authorized to fly it. So you dont even have to be a pilot. So you dont have any of those clearances that pilots go through for airlines. For example, the rules are very strict. Your record follows you through every air pliline that you work. Body of work that goes with you. Through federal regulation. You cant hide one part of your record. When you are a pilot you said . Yeah, when you are a pilot. And then you have initial hire screening. Rudimentary Mental Health screens. You have to have a pilot medical on which you have to disclose any mental problems if you are taking any kind of antidepressa antidepressants. Those are, those must be reported to the federal aviation administration. But you dont go through any of that as the pilot who is run and taxi qualified. You are just basically able to maneuver the plane, you are kind of like, you know like the person who drives the tug at the
airport, moves the plane from here to there. You dont need a tug. You are qualified to turn it on. Power it up. You are just not qualified off to take it off. Because youre not a pilot. You dont have the pilots tickets. This person obviously had some training. And, knew the plane very well. Because, he is a mechanic. So knew how to put the gear up. Knew the important speed at which youve could take off. Avoid stalling. Got the engine, you know, two engines. Now this q400 it is a remake of an older plane. They upgreat aded t,madeeng faster. Ten years ago this was a new version of an older turbo prop, belter better engines. Respectfully, i was listening intently to vetting there is for pilot, versus vetting for mechanic. While it makes sense on its face, listening to you, it seems to me loike today has uncovered
or proved a vulnerability in the system like david was telling us. Sure, absolutely. Been an issue for some time. Because, 3 4 of the people who work at the airport havent had vetting or security that even a passenger has passed. It is a huge loophole. And discussed at length after 9 11. Because no one envisioned Something Like this would hap m . No, i think they have. Envisioned. There have been planes stolen from airports before. Albeit smaller planes. And there have been people who have gotten on board planes and tried to commandeer planes at airports before. Thats happened before as well. But there was push back. The Industry Push back on requiring full security and Background Checks in the industry. The Aviation Industry has pushed back mightily on, medical health screening. Even for pilots. Other than the initial hiring. Stow there has been push back from the industry. Expense would be too great. Mary, thank you. Going to have to stop you there for a few minutes. Thank you for your patience with me. We will fatake a quick break. Recap everything at the top of the hour. Thats in four minutes. Stay with us