Originally Posted by
edi_local
Forgive my ignorance, but surely there was no flight plan filed and that specific aircraft was not due to depart, so at some point an unauthorised plane was taxiing around SEA and it wasn't noticed.
Surely had someone realised that plane wasn't supposed to be moving at that time then it could have been intercepted a lot earlier.
The cargo area at SEA is north of the terminals, and somewhat less well-lit. It is also close to the threshold for the active runway, so he would have had minimal taxi time/distance. According to the local news, he started up, waited for a gap between 2 other taxiing airplanes, and snuck between them. The one in front of him was cleared for takeoff, and he simply followed.