A SkyWest Airlines pilotand murder suspect who stole an empty 50-passenger jet and crashed it as hedrove it at a small airport was found dead with a gunshot wound to his headabout halfway down the aircraft aisle, police said Wednesday.
Brian Hedglin was wanted in the murder of his girlfriend in Colorado when heused a rug to scale the razor wire-topped fence at the St. George MunicipalAirport in Utah early Tuesday. The plane crashed in an airport parking lotbefore it got off the ground.
Authorities were trying Wednesday to determine just how Hedglin gained accessto the plane while the airport was closed, among other details.
St. George police Capt. James Van Fleet said investigators were still awaitingtoxicology reports to determine whether drugs or alcohol were a factor. He saidthey were also awaiting data from the cockpit recorder.
"Right now, we just don't know when he was shot," Van Fleet said."Did he shoot himself at the beginning and the plane went on a ride on itsown? We don't know."
The short ride was jarring enough to collapse the plane's front landing gear asit careened over landscaping, crossed a road and hit a curb before crashinginto cars in the parking lot, he said.
"He might have been standing in the cockpit and was thrown back," VanFleet said.
Meanwhile, SkyWest officials said the company deactivated Hedglin's accesscards and put him on administrative leave after Colorado authorities named hima murder suspect, but declined to explain how he was able to steal one of theirplanes.
Van Fleet said he didn't know if the plane was locked, and SkyWest declined todiscuss it.
Van Fleet also said that once his officers had finished processing evidence onthe plane, it was released to SkyWest, which painted over its logo and movedthe aircraft back onto secure airport property.
SkyWest spokeswoman Marissa Snow said the jet was scheduled for a flight laterTuesday morning, but noted it was empty and sitting on the tarmac when Hedglinstole it.
The CRJ200 aircraft is made by Bombardier and is capable of flying up to 534mph (859 kph) with a range of 1,700 miles (2,735 kilometers). Normally it has atwo-person flight crew and one flight attendant.
Hedglin had been a pilot for the airline since 2005, and has flown thesespecific planes numerous times, Snow said.
Snow declined to say whether the plane was secured at the time of the incident,noting only that "there are numerous federally mandated procedures forsecuring an aircraft."
"This access was unauthorized," she said, declining to providespecific details about how Hedglin was able to board the plane. She alsodeclined to say whether the plane was fueled up, noting it was all part of anongoing investigation by local authorities in Utah, federal agencies and theairline.
Marianella de la Barrera, a Toronto-based spokeswoman for Bombardier, saidsecurity features vary airline to airline and sometimes even are differentwithin an airline's fleet.
Even though planes can be equipped with or without locking mechanisms, she saidtraining and experience would be needed to operate one.
"An average person wouldn't be able to walk up and start one up," shesaid.
The incident has raised overall concerns that the nation's airports may not beas safe as they should be.
The Transportation Security Administration doesn't require airports to maintainfull-time surveillance of their perimeter fences, leaving airport securitylargely in the hands of individual facilities. St. George airport officialshave said the small facility northeast of Las Vegas meets all federal securityguidelines.
Van Fleet said just one officer provides security for the airport as it isclosed through the night until 6 a.m. the next morning when TSA officials andothers return. He said his agency would be discussing whether additionalsecurity measures need to be added but noted "this was a very determinedperson."
TSA spokesman Dave Castelveter said the agency was involved in theinvestigation, but declined to discuss specific security protocols, includinghow a plane is supposed to be secured when it is out of service, emphasizingthat each airport has different security needs.
"Aviation security is not a one size fits all process," Castelvetersaid.
Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, chairman of the Subcommittee onTransportation Security, said the Utah incident "shows major securityweaknesses at our airports that need to be addressed."
"We have been pushing TSA to do a much better job overall of working withits partners, including airport authorities, to improve security," Rogerssaid in a statement Wednesday. "American taxpayers deserve better and havea right to be outraged at this."
One aviation security expert said it might be time torevisit protocols aimed at securing airport perimeters.
"Maybe we need to implement some more levels of perimeter security becauseany type of security incident like this is a lesson to both the good guys andthe bad guys. They read the papers just as much as we do," said JeffPrice, an aviation professor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver andformer assistant security director at Denver International Airport.
Hedglin was wanted in the death of his of his former girlfriend and fellowColorado National Guard member, Christina Cornejo, in Colorado Springs,Colorado. Her body was found July 13. Authorities said she had been stabbedmultiple times. Hedglin was the key suspect but had not been charged.
The Gazette of Colorado Springs, citing court records, reported Hedglin datedCornejo for four years and was arrested in March after he was accused ofharassing her.
The records show that a restraining order was issued against Hedglin, and hewas set for trial in August. He was released on $10,000 bond.
Attorney Steven Rodemer, who represented Hedglin in that case, said he wasfacing misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief, theft and harassment.
Hedglin was a part-time soldier who worked as a cook in the Colorado NationalGuard.
Cornejo was a full-time soldier who served in the Colorado Army NationalGuard's 100th Missile Defense Brigade in Colorado Springs. She enlisted in June2006, became a second lieutenant last year and was named a distinguished honorgraduate in two training programs. She had recently begun training as a currentoperations officer.