I read on another source that as soon as they spotted him moving on the ground, air traffic froze all the other planes on the ground in place while they tried to figure out who he was and what he was going to do.
Here is how it all unfolded:
@CTScoutmom - probably, but we will still have to pay for whatever new measures will be mandated. And as usual, the TSA will be a mad beehive for a few weeks… looking for the lost car keys under the lamppost… until the dust settles.
@Iglooo - Large multiengine aircraft (and most small ones as well) do not use keys to start the engines. They aren’t cars. In the case of airliners, the assumption is that only properly qualified and authorized personnel will be able to access the cockpit and operate the aircraft. Obviously, Horizon Air needs to review its personnel screening, background checking, and security procedures, but as far as the aircraft is concerned, the operations procedures of the airline or operator is relied upon to assure only authorized flights are made. On small twin-engine piston powered general aviation (private, non-transport category or airline) aircraft, the starter is usually operated by pushbutton and the magneto switches are toggle or rocker switches for each engine. Most however have some form of door lock. Single engine aircraft often have key ignition switches, but with more than one engine having a key switch for each engine is awkward for the pilot to operate. On older turboprop aircraft, two people were required to start the engines since it was necessary to carefully monitor the interturbine temperatures for each engine during startup, and the fuel flow, so as to avoid a “hot start” condition (one pilot had his/her hand on the condition levers ready to shut off the engine(s) if an ITT temperature excedence was impending, which can cause damage to the engine). On modern aircraft such as the Q400, the engines have a sophisticated Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system, that automates this process. Starting the engines is a matter of pressing a button and moving the condition levers to the Run position. Flying the aircraft is another matter, if he was a able to take off and keep the aircraft under control before the crash he must have had some minimal flying experience I would imagine.
Cheers, Michael, Ph.D., P.E., Consulting Aerospace Engineer, commercial pilot and aircraft owner.
^Someone at the press conference asked if he could have learned to fly on a simulator, or computer games - any thoughts on that?
Some of the computer based flight simulators are quite good, but they obviously can’t replicate the dynamics of the actual airplane. An actual flight simulator with motion and a visual display of course would be a better learning experience. In large aircraft training, simulators are used but it is also necessary to actually fly the aircraft. It’s not that hard to take off, you would need to know the rotation and climb airspeeds for example and how the power setting and pitch affect the airspeed and climb rate. If you never actually flew an airplane before, particularly a large, heavy one such as the Q400, you would be experimenting to some extent and hoping that you don’t crash while trying to sort out how the plane responds to the control inputs. I suspect it would have been hard for him to land the aircraft without any injury or damage.
You cannot learn to fly solely by watching videos, however.
Hearing him talk to air traffic controllers was heartbreaking “A lot of people care about me…”. I wonder if any of his family or friends will think back to any missed signs of mental illness.
I’m sure his family will be wracking their brains. 
I can say that, having FOUR kids in the youngest generation of our family having been affected by mental illness. These kids were all raised in stable, loving families, and none of the older family members saw any signs of problems until crises occurred. People are really good at covering up problems.
After watching the stunts he was able to successfully complete without losing control of the plane I assumed he had a lot of experience in the air. Don’t think he could have pulled those things off unless he knew how to fly. I just figured he intentionally crashed the plane when he had made a definitive decision to end his life. There was a part of the conversation with air traffic control where you get the impression he was wavering just a tiny bit.
Paging @busdriver11!
One chilling question I have is…what is the protocol for the military to bring down an unauthorized pilot and plane? I have wondered about this since 9/11/2001, when our government was momentarily in a fog as to the circumstances of the missing/off course airliners. I understand that Vice President Cheney ultimately did give an order to shoot down the plane that eventually crashed in Pennsylvania…but of course that plane was already in pieces on the ground by the time the Vice President issued the order. Personally, I am inclined to think that under circumstances where the air surveillance system has no idea who is flying an off-course plane…a plane that is showing no clear intentions…there will be no order to shoot down such a plane, unless the situation obviously becomes grave. The fellow who flew his bicycle contraption over the White House a few years ago wasn’t shot down.
This case at Sea Tac Airport is clearly tragic. The poor guy needed mental help but apparently showed no prior signs of mental distress. He flew south of the airport and away from the residential areas along Interstate Highway 5 (perhaps that was intentional). Maybe he had no intent to hurt anyone. But for several frightening minutes, neither those U.S. military jet pilots nor anyone else knew what was going to happen next.
@LakeWashington - There is a predefined intercept procedure the military uses. Civil pilots are supposed to be familiar with it. The vast majority of interceptions today are the occasional general aviation light aircraft pilot who mistakenly flies into a temporary flight restriction (such as that when the president is visiting somewhere). The interceptors will attempt to communicate with the intercepted aircraft by radio, but if that fails they will use visual signals that again, pilots are trained to interpret. In most cases, the intercepted aircraft is directed to land somewhere and that is what happens in the vast majority. Shooting down an aircraft would be an extreme last resort if the aircraft poses an imminent threat to the ground. A light aircraft likely would not be shot down.
“A light aircraft likely would not be shot down.” That would be my layman’s guess, too.
But as one of the talking head experts said during an interview last night, if the poor fellow had turned to fly north over Seattle proper, or turned west towards the naval bases on Puget Sound…the decision whether or not to intercept would have had different consequences.
An alleged plane thief caught!