Air Horizon plane crashes after being stolen

I heard about this story yesterday and shrugged it off as a false story as it was so unbelievable. Unfortunately the below story is true..

HORIZON AIR DASH 8 Q402 N416QX (CN 4083)      File Photo

An Horizon Air employee hijacked one of his airline's aircraft from Seattle/Tacoma International Airport, WA (SEA/KSEA)  Friday evening before crashing in south Puget Sound. The unauthorized flight took off around 8 p.m., Horizon parent company Alaska Air Group Inc. said.

No passengers were on board and there were no reports of injuries on the ground. The employee had worked for Horizon Air for more than three years, and had undergone multiple criminal background checks, said Brad Tilden, the CEO of Alaska Air Group, in a Saturday press conference. Employees face background checks that go back 10 years, which they are required to renew every two years. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air said they were not aware of anything popping up during this employee's background checks. "The individual was fully credentialed. He had access to that area legitimately,” said Mike Ehl, director of operations at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. “It’s inside the security fence so no security violations were committed."

Flights were temporarily grounded at Sea-Tac Airport, but later resumed normal operations. The Pierce County Sheriff's Office on Twitter called the hijacker "a suicidal male," saying it was not a terrorist incident. The unidentified employee was a 29-year-old Pierce County resident, the sheriff's office said. Pierce County is working with the FBI and the military on the investigation.

"Our hearts are with the family of the individual aboard, as well as all our Alaska Air and Horizon Air employees," Horizon Chief Operating Officer Constance von Muehlen said.

Alaska spokeswoman Bobbie Egan declined to answer questions about how the Horizon plane was commandeered before it took off.

Two F-15 fighter jets that took off from Portland to follow the aircraft were "not involved in (the) crash," the Pierce County Sheriff's Office tweeted Friday.

The Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 crashed into Ketron Island south of Tacoma, the sheriff's office said. 

The Q400 is a 76-seat turboprop plane. Alaska Air has 45 Q400s in its fleet.

Alaska identified the aircraft as a 2012-built aircraft that arrived in Seattle from Victoria, British Columbia, at 1:35 Friday afternoon.  The aircraft took off and began manoeuvring over Puget Sound and was seen to perform a barrel roll. During these manoeuvres the person in control of the aircraft was in radio contact with air traffic control.
McDonnell Douglas F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft of the Oregon Air National Guard were dispatched and followed the aircraft.
The aircraft then crashed into Ketron Island, 40 km to the southwest of the Seattle/Tacoma Airport. The sole person on board the aircraft was killed.

Aircraft Information

Airline: Horizon Air

Code: QX / QXE

Aircraft Type: Dash 8 Q402

Registration: N449QX

Serial Number: 4410

Engines: 2 PWC PW150A

First Flew:

Age:

Main part of the story sourced from here.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2018/08/10/horizon-jet-crashes-after-being-stolen-by-sea-tac.html