Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

187 - Sky King: The Story of Richard Russell (feat. Caleb from Western Kabuki) (Patreon)

Published:
2025-04-30 06:00:13
Edited:
2025-04-30 06:07:32
Imported:
2026-06

Downloads

Content

Caleb @BirdRespecter (Western Kabuki, 60 Minute Drill) joins Brian and Josh to tell the story of Richard “Beebo” Russell, a man who walked off his job as a baggage handler at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport one day in 2018 to steal an airplane. Russell and his ill-fated flight quickly became a cause célèbre among some of the darkest corners of the internet, continuing to this day. This episode tries to figure out how and why that happened.

Note: This episode deals with suicide and racist extremism.

Caleb: Bluesky // Twitter // Linktree

Western Kabuki: Formerly the preeminent Nick Cage podcast, this show is now a few friends from Twitter, @Birdrespecter, @AGoldmund, and @JUNlPER discussing what’s going on online. Patreon // Spotify // Apple Podcasts // Bluesky // YouTube

Media referenced this episode:

“The Sky Thief: Beebo Russell’s Last Flight” by Tim Dickinson. Rolling Stone, June 24, 2021.

“I Worked With Richard Russell at Horizon Air, and I Understand Why He Did What He Did” by Todd Bunker. The Stranger, August 17, 2018.

“‘Airplane of opportunity’? Richard Russell raised pilot’s suspicions a year before Sea-Tac plane heist” by Lewis Kamb. The Seattle Times, September 12, 2018.

“Sea-Tac air traffic controller faced ‘one in a million’ scenario with stolen plane” by Daniel Beekman and Michelle Baruchman. The Seattle Times, August 11, 2018.

“FBI: Richard Russell, who stole plane from Sea-Tac, acted alone, crashed on purpose; motive a mystery” by Lewis Kamb. The Seattle Times, November 9, 2018.

“Human remains, flight data recorder found among wreckage of stolen plane on Ketron Island” by Stacia Glenn. The News Tribune, August 13, 2018.

“Airline job was way for man who crashed stolen plane to visit Alaska” by Adam Lynn, Alexis Krell, Sue Kidd, Lauren Smith and Craig Sailor. The News Tribune, August 12, 2018.

“White nationalists and the ‘Sky King’” by Martin McKenzie-Murray. The Saturday Paper, August 18, 2018.

FBI press release on investigation from November 2018

Redacted FBI report from the investigation

Music used in this episode:

Anticipation by Drill Folly

Lookin’ For That Orca (Beebo’s Song) by Johny Maudlin

TWOAPW theme by Brendan Dalton: Patreon // brendan-dalton.com // brendandalton.bandcamp.com

Interstitial: The first seven pages of “The Hidden Enemy,” written and performed by Josh Boerman

Files

Comments

Zipzapzop

Who knew the right had their own killdozer

April Ryan

The Killdozer guy was also a reactionary loser fyi

Joseph E.

This one should be released at some point to the free feed, I reckon.

Nemo

I hadn't heard of this incident before now but this was a beautiful episode, thank you all

P.A.L.

As someone who has struggled with suicidal thoughts and inclinations for most of my life, I found this a very heartening listen. It is something that I, like Brian, have to focus the rational parts of my brain to think about to consider the various ways that things would be effected if I went through with it, how what good I can do in the world would simply end. The thing that most helped me get over it was being on the coroners jury for a young man who had jumped in front of a train because he was failing college and didn't know how to tell his family about it. Seeing the outpour of grief and sorrow from his family in the courtroom, the assurance to me that there wasn't a single one of them wouldn't give anything to talk to him again, that helped to cement to me the main reason that has stopped me from killing myself many times. It doesn't stop the pain and the misery, it just pushes it along. With this particular case though, it seems that the public spectacle of it all has overtaken the ultimate point of Russell's death. He was just a person who died, not what the worst parts of the internet have ascribed on to him. And his loved ones will continue to be hurt for him.

Iain Standing

The killdozer guy was way more of a reactionary loser in fact, he was way more explicit in his online presence

Kyle Cassidy

donoteat has a very entertaining video that lays out the true story (entitled small-business psycho) behind the myth (heroic man-pushed-too-far): https://youtu.be/Yvl_7_Up7zU

Wilko

Awaken with JP used to make fun of esoteric/yoga/lifestyle/mindfulness content, which I found entertaining. It was satirical without being hostile. I stopped watching after a while because things were getting a bit repetitive. When I checked back with him - I think it was during the pandemic - I was really disappointed to see how right-wing & conspiratorial he had become.

Harles Barkley

I'm at the interstitial and i feel like this is the happiest im going to be for the entire episode

Ray of F---ing Sunshine

For the last...oh, two? Three? years, I've been living without suicidal ideation. Before that was a decade and a half of thinking and living as though the only way forward was eventual self destruction. It's exhausting, especially if you've committed yourself to keeping up a good front, and not letting anyone know. That makes it come as a real shock to the people around you when it finally gets too heavy and you break. I've always been a bubbly, cheery person, and I also saw myself a lot in this story. No one saw it coming, I wasn't a moody or dark kid, and it forced a lot of conversations to happen. This was a tragedy. "Cathedral of suicide" is going to stay with me, for the times it's tempting to romanticize the suffering. I wish peace for all of youse, and that the pain will pass soon.

Alex

This is now permanently a podcast about Seattle.

Derek W

Man. Nothing witty to say, just goddamn.

J

Yeah, Killdozer guy kept picking fights and making his own problems. The only reason his business got as messed up as it did was because he was an unrepentant asshole

Stu Strange

I rember that shithead. He harassed Susan Bro, Heathers Mom. I was one of the medics on water street on a12, they doxxed most of us from the news photos. I had to move to a different city.

MuppetImp

Thanks for an episode that helps those of us who needed it to not feel so alone today.

Adi

Sorry TW for this whole comment I’m now fully two years older than I had ever planned on being, and the worst part of going through regular life as a passively suicidal person is that the lowest points will always bring those feelings back again. It used to be a huge contributing factor to my impulsive behaviours — as in like: well, I’ve always got a way out if things get too bad, so why not? Even good times come with some undercurrent of if this is as good as it gets, get out now. With so many more people depending on me than I had a decade ago, the thought carries a lot more weight but I also have no idea what I’m doing and no plans for the future because I wasn’t really set on being around at this point. And it’s hard to look at the state of things and NOT think about whether nonexistence is better. Idk. Big hugs to everybody else who’s still dragging themselves through everything to stick around.

KaiaBlomst

I live in Tacoma. I had honestly forgot about this until I saw a YouTube Short tribute pop up out of nowhere a couple weeks ago. I remember now the confusion my family felt when we heard what was going on, and the moment we realized the crash was likely a suicide. Not to get too into it, but I had gone through a really bad depressive episode the previous year, and I remember only now that this affected me. Learning how this event has been twisted makes me genuinely sick to my stomach.

ChigBungus

For those coming over to listen to the second half after listening to the first half on western kabuki, the second part begins at ~57 minutes.

sj

welp,

ChigBungus

I actually made sure the above is about 30 seconds before the interstitial begins 🤘

Will Robinson

listening to the pilot emergency call & remembering that damn, professional pilots really are the dumbest, most arrogant folks I ever have met.

Rhaen

So I’ve been enthralled with this story for a long time. When I first read through the notes I felt pretty upset that fashy dweebs have been co-opting his story. I’m a pretty far left person who’s dealt with ideation since I was about 12 (I’m 37) and in therapy all the time. It’s hard to communicate to people we care about why we might feel this way; it’s often embarrassing cuz I’m a tall white (but very queer) dude: I have so much privilege. Around 1hr40 ish y’all talked about not being able to understand ideation, and that was really impactful to me. It’s not something that is logical; something you can just simplify into a couple words. It just this perpetually nagging basic instinct that I shouldn’t be alive. Before anyone freaks out I have found medications that are working way better than before. My goal is to one day not have the subversive nagging thoughts. It was so meaningful for Caleb and everyone and I have to say. When y’all talked about how Beebo living despite how he might feel would bring so much joy and happiness to the people who cared about him… that really touched me. I am sure the people in my life would feel the same way. And I think y’all really helped me reframe my outlook on my life. From “everyone would be so upset when I do it” to “maybe people want me in their lives (cuz I think they do)”. Decades of therapy never got me to that point but y’all helped me see that through this episode and I’m so grateful. WK and TWOAW are amazing, appreciate all of y’all

Rhaen

Sorry for the long comment. This was a meaningful moment for me.

Sasha MH

I remember when this happened, but I had no idea that he'd been "claimed" by the fucking fascists. Lads, you really wrecked me with this one. Josh, I'm so fucking sorry. And Brian, that closing was like a finger on my soul. Im sure this was hard to make, but thank you for this episode

Johnny Schmidt

Well done Bryan, that final picture you painted... the spectacle, the idol... I definitely saw something real I hadn't recognized before.

Michael

The fash adoption of Richard as a totem reminds me of something I read about Germany and the architectural remaking of Berlin under the Nazis - they demanded buildings "that would make beautiful ruins." A fundamental aspect of fascism is the death drive.

Rhaen

I’ve re-listened to this a few times (also because I love Caleb from WK). Brian’s monologue at the end is so impactful. Really hit me right in the feels. Thank y’all for being so amazing, I’m new to your podcast but y’all are up in my favorites.

parliament cigarettes

Cried several times during this one. Just one of the most genuinely human and powerful pieces you guys have done. As absolutely depraved as it is to see something as tragic as this co-opted by these Nazi freaks, there's such a poignancy to the conclusions you all come to. Thank you. Important as hell episode.

Ember, of the Starship Trinary

I live in Seattle (and was in 2018), I had no idea this had happened! I didn't follow the news but I'm surprised nobody I knew was talking about it online. Tragic stuff.

James Cézanne-Taipale

I clean planes for a living and the idea of just stealing one is kinda a constant background thought.

Brandon Chinn

I was days away from turning 30. I lived in University Place, a borough of Tacoma, and both heard and felt the Sky King go over us before he crashed. I've always felt something kindred with him, and hearing how local and how similar we were, especially how we grew up, is eerie.

I Love Brian Alford's Bible Corner

I've been passively suicidal since 2020ish. It's background noise for me now, which is fairly sustainable. Suicide has featured prominently in my life for several years, with those close to me attempting or being hospitalized. I don't know what it's like to actually face the end and I'm not going to actively seek it. But I understand the desire for peace. I don't know how I feel about arguments that it's irrational, I don't know. Also, I love Cioran. As far as possible without actually knowing you, I'm also very fond of you guys.

Gorbant

I truly appreciate the vulnerability you are all willing to show in the podcast, and I'll be thinking about the quote that Caleb brought up about suffering for a while.

Mae

Got off my warehouse job shift as the Orca song started to play. It's a pretty overcast day. I saw a plane flyover head as I began walking down the lot. I teared up a little bit after that.

Ghostly

I have had chronic passive suicidal ideation ever since I was a teenager. I don’t think I have the eloquence to make sense of what I feel right now. I hear what you all are saying at the end of the episode—about how suicide is a tragic snuffing out of a life’s potential—and it just makes me weep. I have always felt that I wasn’t born with enough steam to make it through. I do think it is possible for living to be so painful that it makes a kind of sense to just want it to stop.

Matt Bornemann

Thanks for doing this episode. I feel like it's among your most important. Next to the Animal Crossing one, maybe. lol, but darkly

Winter Strang

Regarding the question at ~1:36, "what does any of this have to do with whiteness?" You have to keep in mind that these assholes don't see race as just a combination of, like, phenotypic and cultural traits, but as a sort of physical manifestation of some nebulous concept of destiny. Whiteness, to these chuckleheads, means being one of the protagonists of reality. They've built up this idea that only white people get to have adventures, make discoveries, do impressive things, and go down in history as heroes. When reality inevitably fails to at all match up to this ideal they declare that reality is in the wrong, that the destiny they somehow 'deserve' is being stolen from them by all those nefarious non-whites who villainously insist on being, y'know, people.