SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Gen. McCaffrey says F-15s were ‘prepared to shoot’ down Richard Russell

Aug 14, 2018, 4:44 PM | Updated: 4:46 pm

General Barry McCaffrey joined the Ron and Don Show on KIRO Radio to talk about how two F-15’s responded so quickly to a stolen plane out of Sea-Tac Airport on Friday.

“They were directing him out over the Pacific Ocean,” McCaffrey said. “Those F-15C Air National Guard out of Oregon came up here exceeding Mach 1. They were armed. They were prepared to shoot him down.”

McCaffrey, a retired four-star general, explains why they didn’t shoot down Richard Russell. Listen here:

“It’s hard to imagine how this happened,” McCaffrey said.

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Gen. McCaffrey says F-15s were ‘prepared to shoot’ down Richard Russell