US investigators have found the flight data recorder of the Horizon Air plane stolen by a Seattle airport worker amid plane wreckage on a sparsely populated island in Washington state.
After falling through several 30-metre lines of trees, the Bombardier Q400 plane broke up into pieces small enough to pick up by hand
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Western Pacific Region chief Debra Eckrote said: "You couldn't even tell it was a plane except for some of the bigger sections, like the wing section.
"Even the small sections, most of it doesn't resemble a plane."
Ms Ekrote said that the flight data recorder, commonly known as the airplane's "black box", was burned but otherwise intact.
NTSB investigators will send the recorder to Washington DC to analyse the data for information next week.
Two F-15 fighter jets chased the twin-engine turboprop plane that baggage handler Richard Russell took late on Friday.
During the hour he spent in the air, Mr Russell flew the plane in a loop - an improbable stunt caught on video by a surprised bystander - then crashed it into the small, heavily forested Ketron Island in Puget Sound.
Authorities ruled out any link to terrorism and determined Mr Russell had flown alone.
There were no other injuries and the F-15s did not shoot down the plane, according to officials.
Colleagues remembered Mr Russell, who was nicknamed "Beebo" as "quiet" and "very friendly." His family said the incident came as a "complete shock to us".
Read more
FBI seeks motive after airline worker steals plane and crashes it
"It may seem difficult for those watching at home to believe, but Beebo was a warm, compassionate man," the family said in a letter, which they said would be their only statement.
They said they were "stunned and heartbroken". "He was a faithful husband, a loving son and a good friend."
Mr Russell's role at Horizon, an Alaska Airlines affiliate where he had worked since 2015, involved towing aircraft, loading and unloading cargo and luggage, and cleaning the aircraft, officials said.
Based on his personal blog, last updated in December 2017, he seemed to enjoy his job, and used airline travel benefits to visit places such as Mexico, France and Ireland, where he attended a hurling game between Galway and Kilkenny.
