August 11, 2018 at 9:00am ET — AFA critical response team mobilized last night due to an incident involving a Horizon Q400 and an airline employee. AFA Horizon and AFA Alaska officers are responding onsite at SeaTac now.
While we don't know all the details yet, we are incredibly sad to report that we lost a member of the Horizon Air and aviation family in the incident. Our heart is with every Horizon Air employee, especially the rampers, and the friends and family of person involved.
We have mobilized AFA EAP and our officer resources to support you. If you or a flying partner needs to talk to an EAP representative, please call the AFA EAP at 800-424-2406.
Alaska Airlines has created a blog page for official updates regarding the Horizon Air aircraft incident: https://blog.alaskaair.com/alaska-airlines/horizon-air-aircraft/. Below is an update on what facts are known about the incident so far:
"Alaska Airlines believes a ground service agent employed by Horizon Air was the individual responsible for flying the Horizon Q400 without clearance from Sea-Tac International Airport around 8 p.m. tonight.
The plane, which was taken from a maintenance position and was not scheduled for passenger flight, crashed about an hour later in a wooded area on Ketron Island in rural Pierce County. No ground structures were involved at the crash site.
Military jets were scrambled from Portland, but it does not appear that these jets were involved in the crash of the Horizon aircraft.
This individual who took the aircraft, who has not yet been positively identified until remains are examined, is believed to have been the only person on the plane when the plane was taken from a maintenance position at Sea-Tac.
First responders are at the crash site. Appropriate government agencies, including NTSB, FAA and FBI, have been notified."
We will provide another update when more information is available.
