Stepbrother of Richard 'Beebo' Russell talks about stolen plane incident

Danny Punturo is the stepbrother of Richard "Beebo" Russell. He talked to NBC about Beebo's life and infamous demise after the airport worker crashed a commercial plane he stole from Sea-Tac International Airport.

[shortythepresident]

Posthumously given his pilot's Captain Richard Russell. For a couple of minutes he was truly free more than any of us would ever be.

[defkon]

"He didn't go up there to die. He went up there to live."

[_timetravels]

This man's barrel roll is imprinted in my memory until I die.

[shywolf]

He sounded such a nice guy! Mental Health is a killer. But this guy did not want to hurt others unlike the German pilot who crashed into the Alps. Rest in peace young man! May you find the peace to make you feel whole again.

[EricH_]

"Better to live one day as a King, than a entire lifetime as a fool". R.I.P SKYKING..

[ColdPillowz]

His stepbrother did a wonderful service to him eulogizing him so well. I’m sorry for his pain the family seems like good people.

[chrismartin]

You could tell by the recording of him while in flight that he was a good guy, and you could tell that he never meant anyone any harm.

[ProbInsane]

"We lost one hell of a guy." we know.

[maddiesgamingchannel]

That’s the thing about mental health...A person can pull off looking happy and normal to everyone around them but at the same time harbor a lot of pain inside. They get to the point where they bottle it up so much that it eventually explodes and things like this happen. It’s a terrible thing to see such a genuine good guy take his own life like this. On the bright side he will go down in the history books as the “Sky King” Richard Russel, formerly known as Beebo. The one guy that actually pulled a barrel roll in a regional Dash-8. It’s just a shame that another good person had to die because there was no help for them.

[mcdouche]

They need to name an airport after him.

[dehypnotizer]

It's gonna be 3 years on Wednesday and it still breaks my heart. Rich, your flight was amazing, I hope you're happy now, wherever you are.

[aviation]

It’s 4 yrs after the event and just seeing this interview because of the ground audio that was released this week. Without making obvious judgement about all the stuff he shouldn’t have done, I hope he was having fun. RIP

[mexicanprivilege]

He made it clear it didn’t want to hurt anybody, only himself. He went out on his own terms. That’s all any of us can ever ask for.

[dadelinecaauwe]

rest in peace, beebo. I wish the world had been kinder to you.

[themondouxfamily]

I’ll always see Richard Russell as an amazing man. You can really tell that he had only good intentions for everybody. Will always miss you RIP fly high sky king

[reichstreu]

One year ago today rich pulled off a split s in a dash 8.

[citizenblue]

Godspeed, Skyking. You nailed that roll. Peace to the family who lost him.

[pilotactor]

He went out riding the sky like a warrior-his pain was painted across the heavens. Sorry for your loss bro....

[holiday-tdhx]

It's heart-breaking when a family member states that he had NO reason to think that Richard "Beebo" Russell was having issues of any kind.
How sad that must have been for the family of this man, and his wife. I hope she somehow finds peace and moves on with her life. Richard Russell sounded like a good guy with some issues that his family had no clue of at all.
RIP "Beebo Russell"
To his wife, Just remember the good times. Don't remember this day that he took his life. I'm so sorry.

[RobertMiller-yehm]

He lived more in that 1 hour than most people do in a lifetime. God bless you Richard