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Authorities probe how ‘suicidal’ employee could steal plane

Seatac, Wash. • Investigators worked to find out how a “suicidal” airline employee stole an empty Horizon Air turboprop plane, took off from Sea-Tac International Airport and crashed into a small island in the Puget Sound after being chased by military jets that were quickly scrambled to intercept the aircraft.

The Friday night crash happened because the 29-year-old man was "doing stunts in air or lack of flying skills," the Pierce County Sheriff's Department said. The man, who was believed killed, wasn't immediately identified.

The man was suicidal and there was no connection to terrorism, Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the sheriff's department, said on Twitter.