‘Broken Man’ Who Stole an Airplane: Inside the ‘#SKYKING’ Tragedy

New documentary uses previously unreleased audio and emotional family interviews to explore the mental health crisis that led to hijacking in 2018.

Meg Godlewski

Monday, April 20, 2026 at 03:05 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

A Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 [Credit: Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

A new documentary, *#SKYKING*, explores the 2018 incident where Horizon Air ramp agent Richard "Beebo" Russell, with no pilot experience, stole a Dash 8-400 from Sea-Tac and intentionally crashed it, killing himself.
The film delves into Russell's mental health struggles and the factors leading up to the event through interviews with his family and friends, incorporating previously unreleased air traffic control audio.
It details his personal history, financial challenges, and alleged workplace dissatisfaction and discrimination at Horizon Air, presenting him as a "broken man" whose story has been controversially politicized.

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On August 10, 2018, a ramp agent for Horizon Air at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (KSEA) who had zero pilot experience stole an empty de Havilland Dash 8-400 and took it for a one-hour-and-15-minute joy ride around southwestern Washington state.

All the while he talked with an air traffic controller (ATC) and an experienced Q400 pilot, both of whom tried to get him to land the aircraft. Instead, the pilot, 29-year-old Richard “Beebo” Russell, performed a barrel roll then ended the flight with an intentional crash on a sparsely populated, heavily forested island west of Tacoma.