Plane Crashes near Seattle after 'Unauthorized Takeoff'

Multiple law-enforcement sources told NBC News that the plane was followed by military aircraft that scrambled to the skies above Puget Sound, and pilots witnessed it go down.

A plume of smoke was reported on or near the island after authorities received reports that a plane was stolen from Seattle Airport Friday night, according to the US Coast Guard (USCG).

SeaTac Airport tweeted, "An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers at Sea-Tac; aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound. Normal operations at Sea-Tac Airport have resumed."

An airline employee conducted an unauthorized takeoff without passengers at Sea-Tac; aircraft has crashed in south Puget Sound. Normal operations at Sea-Tac Airport have resumed.

The Pierce County department said in a follow-up tweet that the man piloting the plane was a 29-year-old "suicidal male" who "acted alone." The man is from the area, according to the tweet.

Petty Officer Ali Flockerzi said one of the USCG's 45-foot rescue boats was headed to the scene.

The island is between Tacoma and Olympia, she said.

Alaska Airlines tweeted, "We are aware of an incident involving an unauthorized takeoff of a Horizon Air Q400. We believe there are no passengers on board. More information as we learn more."

The stolen plane reports were received about 8:30 p.m. PDT, and the plume was reported about 15 minutes later, Flockerzi said.

We are aware of an incident involving an unauthorized takeoff of a Horizon Air Q400. We believe there are no passengers on board. More information as we learn more.

The incident kept planes stranded on the tarmac at SeaTac and passengers waiting on board after landing.

Quincy Carr, who was flying in to town to perform on a Norwegian cruise line ship, said the pilot told passengers on his plane that there was an incident and they were stuck on the tarmac for around an hour.

"I felt like we were on the ground and we were safe, we weren’t in the sky while something was going on," he said. "So it really wasn’t that bad –- to me,” Carr told a reporter from NBC affiliate KING5 of Seattle at the airport after getting off the plane.

"But I do know there were people on the plane that were kind of panicked," he said.

Another passenger flying in from Philadelphia told the station that travelers were grounded on his flight for around 40 minutes before allowing to leave.

The crew on that plane said there was some kind of emergency on the runway but did not tell passengers that a plane had been stolen, he said. " ... Of course everyone’s pulling out their phone and finding out what’s going on, and seeing this crazy story," he said.