UPDATE: About the plane circling over West Seattle

1:13 AM: Thanks for the tips. Flight tracker shows a small plane registered to the Washington State Patrol is what’s been circling in the Junction area – and other points south – originating in Olympia. We’re not sure yet why. It’s shown with a most unusual flight pattern:

(Image from Flightradar 24)

1:33 AM: It’s finally moved on, heading southwest. Still no specifics on what it was doing – we might not be able to find out until Monday – but here’s what the WSP aircraft are generally used for.

1:49 AM: Listening to archived police-radio audio to try to catch more context on a mention of a trooper in West Seattle while the plane was overhead, there was a mention of a WSP vehicle and a suspect vehicle, at a West Seattle location where SPD was going to assist, but no details on why or where.

8:32 AM: Here’s what WSP spokesperson Trooper Rick Johnson tells us:

We pursued what I believe was a stolen vehicle and then our aircraft got involved and the ground units backed off.

Two occupants fled on foot from the vehicle that I believe was in an apartment parking garage where they abandoned it.

This was not part of the street racers.

62 Replies to "UPDATE: About the plane circling over West Seattle"

  • Rubt April 17, 2021 (1:15 am)

    Why? 

  • Tim April 17, 2021 (1:16 am)

    It’s super annoying for sure 

    • Stuart Strome April 18, 2021 (8:22 am)

      Is there anything that does not annoy Washingtonians? Get out and get some some sunshine brother. Life will brighten up

      • Lisa April 18, 2021 (9:42 am)

        At 1:16 in the morning?  Not the best advice. 

  • James April 17, 2021 (1:17 am)

    It’s made a pass over my home almost 20 times. It’s certainly annoying! I hope it’s important.

    • Caveman April 17, 2021 (1:54 pm)

      Man let’s hope your car never gets stolen!!!!!

  • L April 17, 2021 (1:21 am)

    Thanks, so curious to know what’s going on. It’s been going in these tight circles directly over our house by Fairmount Park for a while now. 

  • Jennie April 17, 2021 (1:23 am)

    Seriously, it awaken everyone in our house. It is insanity.

    • Nani April 18, 2021 (8:27 pm)

      Others endure living under the flight path of Sea tac international. A single plane that’s not even a jet shouldn’t be that much of a bother. 

      • Snna April 18, 2021 (11:29 pm)

        It was not just noise, but the vibration of the our building for exampke and it went on for over 20min. It was scary, because it woke everyone up and when I went outside it was literally circling non-stop same couple of blocks flying really low ( if it would be a halicopter I would assume that it was police, but airplane was 1st time I’ve seen something like that). I thought that maybe the plane is trying to make an emergency landing, or like we have seen before a person stole a plane so they could commit suicide. 

  • Plf April 17, 2021 (1:25 am)

    Something doesn’t seem right about this situation 

    • GH April 17, 2021 (1:39 am)

      Agreeing with you completely and honestly even though it is gone, has me unnerved still. 

  • mattswa April 17, 2021 (1:26 am)

    And it’s driving me a bit bonkers. I’m trying to sleep!

  • Jeanne April 17, 2021 (1:26 am)

    Make it stop…… 

  • Roger April 17, 2021 (1:27 am)

    I expect random folks walking down the street shouting after 1 am to be annoying late at night. But not joy riding biplanes doing loop-de-loops for the hell of it.

  • Deez April 17, 2021 (1:29 am)

    That plane is pretty loud.  It’s warm in my house tonight, I thought someone was mowing their yard at 1AM.

    • Cherbear206 April 17, 2021 (1:36 am)

      Me too!! 

    • Nutz April 18, 2021 (1:15 pm)

      It as a bit confusing.

  • Jon Wright April 17, 2021 (1:38 am)

    That was really bizarre. Something like 30 laps centered about the intersection of Hudson and Fauntleroy.

    • Fauntleroy and Hudson April 17, 2021 (3:25 am)

      Agreed. That’s where I’m at and after it was going on for a little while I suddenly heard someone running rapidly down fauntleroy towards the park. I called it in and they said they were making note of it but weren’t sure if it was related to the plane or not. If it wasn’t related some person doing something they shouldn’t have been potentially got a bit of a scare tonight thinking they were the focus of an aerial search and took off running. Either way, I wish they’d be a bit more open about what they are doing when it goes on that long. It’s not like they were in stealth mode. Whoever they were looking for would have to have been pretty oblivious not to pick up on it. 

    • Fauntleroy April 17, 2021 (8:49 am)

      Is that what the police were doing last night at 1:20am? They filled my alley with police cars. They were constantly checking trash bins and patrolling the area

      • Fauntleroy and Hudson April 17, 2021 (11:44 am)

        What is frustrating about this is not that the police pursued this potential criminal, but that we’ve had 3 breakins at my building in the same area in the last month. 2 of them we called 911 while the people were still in the building or trying to get in. On both occasions the police took over 20 minutes to show up by which time the individuals were long gone. I know that distributing resources is complicated but if you have that much available for a stolen vehicle but not a home invasion in progress, on more than one occasion, it raises questions about prioritization. 

        • Mel April 17, 2021 (5:18 pm)

          What you’re not understanding is that this vehicle was being followed by wa state patrol (WSP) which means likely from the freeway. When you call 911, you are waiting on SPD to respond who has limited resources right now. 

        • Canton April 17, 2021 (7:48 pm)

          If you defund it… They will not come…In “Field of dreams” movie voice. 

  • Cherbear206 April 17, 2021 (1:39 am)

    If it’s one of their Cessna 206 it has infared.. I can hear it on 35th and Holden loud enough it woke me up and sounds like a lawn mower..I can still hear it and it is very annoying 😤

    • WSB April 17, 2021 (1:48 am)

      You shouldn’t be hearing it now – it’s almost all the way back to Olympia.

  • Bill Longabaugh April 17, 2021 (1:41 am)

    Looks like Point No Point got the same treatment on Wednesday night with a flight going from 11 PM to 2:40 AM. This seems to be a regular occurrence? Would like to hear why the State Patrol makes a habit of this.

  • Madison April 17, 2021 (1:42 am)

    We live by Fairmont park and it just kept making circles for quite some time! I am extremely interested to know what is happening. How is one plane soooo loud!;

    • Madison April 17, 2021 (1:53 am)

      WTH

  • Theresa April 17, 2021 (1:53 am)

    Runaway pilot?

  • Cozett22 April 17, 2021 (1:58 am)

    Just landed at Olympia Regional airport. Was feeling like someone stole a plane with how it was flying. Is anyone now hearing any helicopters over head? 

  • E April 17, 2021 (2:06 am)

    Lots, of street racers out when I went past the lower bridge around 1:20am. Drag racing in the south bound lanes. Plane may have been keeping tabs on them for the squad cars that I saw shadowing them. It wouldn’t surprise me if they made their way up from the south end to hang out at Alki.

  • Roger April 17, 2021 (2:08 am)

    Type “N2446X circling“ into google and you’ll see people complaining about it at other times in other areas of the city

  • Lisa April 17, 2021 (7:38 am)

    I hope it was worth it because that was truly annoying.

    • Anne April 17, 2021 (9:55 am)

      So sorry you & so many others were “annoyed” maybe we can tell car thieves & other others to limit their unlawful behavior to daytime hours- or better yet- tell law enforcement – no going after bad guys- after ..what would be a good time for folks- 10-11 pm.? Unless of course it “was worth it” If that was my car that had been stolen- I would really appreciate LEO efforts- even if it wasn’t mine I would appreciate them. But for all you “annoyed” folks maybe you should define what’s “ worth it” -make a list & send it to SPD,KCSO, WSP. 

      • Lisa April 17, 2021 (12:57 pm)

        Anne – I wrote that before I knew the reason. That’s why I said, “I hope it was worth it.” To me it sounded like someone out for a joy ride because I’ve never heard SPD doing flybys that weren’t in a helicopter.

        You can go back to judging someone else now….

        • Mel April 17, 2021 (5:19 pm)

          It wasn’t SPD. It was WSP.

      • Diana April 18, 2021 (4:08 am)

        NAILED IT!!! 

  • SJ April 17, 2021 (8:07 am)

    Cheaper to operate than a helicopter. Probably easier to find a pilot too.

  • Suzan April 17, 2021 (8:11 am)

    Tracy, are you going to post an update that you just got from Trooper Johnson? I sent an email and got an immediate reply. He said he also sent it to you . Thanks for investigating.

    • WSB April 17, 2021 (11:43 am)

      I emailed him at 4 am. Response came in after 8 and is up.

  • Blbl April 17, 2021 (8:50 am)

    Wow. All for a car? Time to defund the police and take away their ridiculous toys. They obviously don’t know how to use them.

    • Brayton April 17, 2021 (11:03 am)

      You assume it’s just for a car. Perhaps it was connected to a violent crime or someone had been abducted. Don’t assume to know what’s going on. 

      • Blbl April 17, 2021 (1:04 pm)

        I didn’t assume, I read the WSP statement. I suppose it could also have been connected to an attack by Bigfoot, aliens and Godzilla, but I like to rely on the facts. 

    • meanmistermustard April 18, 2021 (4:02 pm)

      Here, here!  Glad to see another voice of reason in these parts.   Stolen vehicles, especially once the suspect has left the vehicle, are not worth aerial surveillance in the middle of the night.  That’s just not the kind of world I want to live in.   “But what if it was your car?”  Then I would sigh and file my insurance claim.  A car is a thing, and I’m not into pouring resources into protecting property.  Because there is so much property, and people get hurt in the name of protecting it, and that’s just unacceptable and immoral.

  • George Dorn April 17, 2021 (9:13 am)

    Probably one of these that were used last year to survey riots:’They said aircraft from the FBI and National Guard, sporting infrared and electrooptical cameras, flew over protests in Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas, and that the FBI also may have sent aloft in the nation’s capital “Cessna 560 aircraft equipped with ‘dirtboxes,’ equipment that can collect cell phone location data.’And…They said they’re also aware that federal agencies are using Stingray drones, “which mimic cell towers to collect location, call, text and browsing data of nearby cellular devices; facial recognition technology; and automated license plate readers.’

  • JohnW April 17, 2021 (9:29 am)

    Only in West Seattle.  

  • Reed April 17, 2021 (9:52 am)

    West Seattle Residents: Crime here is awful and the police do nothing!

    Also West Seattle Residents: Don’t inconvenience me by fighting crime!

    Forget bridge t-shirts. We need t-shirts that say “West Seattle: We demand to have our cake and eat it to.”

    • StopCuttingDownTrees April 17, 2021 (11:54 am)

      Best comment on here.

      • Mel April 17, 2021 (5:20 pm)

        Ha couldn’t agree more. You can’t please anybody these days.

    • K April 17, 2021 (5:10 pm)

      Yea… rather than chasing it at high speeds down residential streets with siren blasting, they backed off and followed it safely from the air.This was good policing.

    • 😂 April 17, 2021 (7:05 pm)

      Well said, sadly.

  • GH April 17, 2021 (10:08 am)

    So the police barely care if your car is stolen or you’re the victim of a smash and grab … But they send out a WSP plane to circle the neighborhood and wake everyone up for some random stolen car ditched in an apartment parking garage and two people on foot? I’d like to know what really happened last night…

  • Pessoa April 17, 2021 (9:43 pm)

    Clearly none of you have lived in Los Angeles where O.J, Simpson type car chases along with hovering news choppers are an everyday occurrence.  You learn to fall asleep by them. 

    • Eyes in the Sky April 18, 2021 (9:00 am)

      Yes Pessoa,
      it is truly remarkable the complaints about police helicopters and planes here in Mayberry, West Seattle.
      Some neighborhoods in LA felt like they continually had circling police helicopters.  It was truly alarming the first time the those low flying helicopters’ sun-power search lights swept rakishly  over your house, like action movie scenes, and always dramatic many times after.
      Eventually we grew to accept and even appreciate the air police presence.  
      It affirmed that someone was fighting the chaos of criminalality on our behalf. 
      In the 25  years I lived above the ‘old’ Highpoint, I never once experienced a LA type helicopter search.  
      Kind of miss  their reassuring presence.

    • Eyes in the Sky April 18, 2021 (9:02 am)

      Yes Pessoa,
      It is truly remarkable the complaints about police helicopters and planes here in Mayberry, West Seattle.
      Some neighborhoods in LA felt like they continually had circling police helicopters.  
      It was truly alarming the first time those low flying helicopters’ sun-power search lights swept rakishly  over your house, like action movie scenes, and always dramatic many times after.
      Eventually we grew to accept and even appreciate the air police presence.  
      It affirmed that someone was fighting the chaos of criminality on our behalf. 
      In the 25  years I lived above the ‘old’ Highpoint, I never once experienced a LA type helicopter search.  
      Kind of miss  their reassuring presence.

    • WS Resident April 18, 2021 (11:22 am)

      No kidding!  I lived in the Valley and listening to plans and helicopters is a common occurrence.  I also lived in Chicago too.  When I moved here 11 yrs ago I was shocked at how quiet it was at night.  I too would rather be un-convenienced by noise late at night, knowing the cops are actually fighting crime.  

  • ADM April 17, 2021 (10:57 pm)

    Finally, a sensible response to the scourge of flower thefts and low hanging cherry pickings that have caused the abandonment by some many of our neighbors of the mean streets of West Seattle for safer environs.  I say more WSP sky surveillance since SPD clearly can’t keep us and our tulips safe any more!

  • K to the F April 19, 2021 (11:40 am)

    Caught it on my all-sky camera. SUPER glad I didn’t hear it, even with the windows open.

    • sam-c April 19, 2021 (1:01 pm)

      WOW ! that’s a really cool perspective of it.  Thanks for sharing   (is that a camera made specifically to take photos of the sky, or is that just where your regular security-type camera is pointed ?)

Sorry, comment time is over.