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 . H
chased the plane. so that addresses what josh campbell was telling us a second ago. two f-15s chased the plane but were not involved in the crash. so, again, if this is to be believed, the f-15s did not shoot that down that play. let s 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.
as a private pilot, you start a single england. that s your first rating. and here is the f-15s. 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 what s 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. they re allowed to start the plane. they re allowed to run the plane. they can move the plane from point a to point b. from the cockpit, correct? sitting in the pilot s seat?
it was a q-uq400. david, let me remind the people what we know. we re being told it was mecke frick the airport who stole the plane. he was 29 years old. he was from pierce county. the sheriff s 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 f-15s, two f-15 fighter jets were scrambled. and they steered the plane away from a danger zone. that s what we re being told by the pierce county sheriff s department. tells us a little bit about how that works. you were telling us before the break. yes, they box the aircraft in. and i m not sure how fast or how
mechanic cum pilot had a weapon in his hands. but the sheriff is telling us that they re working background on him. he is a 29-year-old suicidal male, and this was not a terrorist incident. i also want to bring you this last tweet by the sheriff. told that the f-15s made it within a few minutes of theft of the plane. the pilots kept plane out of harm s way, and people on the ground are safe. yay, air force. they may not admit for a few days, but it s true. that has to put a smile on anybody s 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, it s amazing how quickly they can respond to that. that s what protocol for