Alaska Airlines jet crashes off California coast

By Jeff Wilson, Associated Press, 01/31/00

OXNARD, Calif. - An Alaska Airlines jet carrying 88 people plummeted into the Pacific Ocean on Monday after its pilot reported mechanical problems and was diverted to Los Angeles for an emergency landing. Several bodies were recovered from the chilly water, but there was no sign of survivors hours after the crash.

COVERAGE Top story Feb. 1 Crash investigation focuses on jet's stabilizer Experts say no common thread in in-flight crashes Alaska employees choke back tears as they deal with loss At airports, grief and relief follow news of crash Jan. 31 Alaska Airlines jet crashes off California In rising swells and spreading oil, boats search for plane, people  REALVIDEO Feb. 1 Recording of final minutes of Flight 261 is released NTSB briefs press on crash Tragedy strikes Alaska Airlines Search and rescue mission continues off Calif. coast Officials address public regarding crash Jan. 31 Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crash This video clip is viewed using RealPlayer. Get RealPlayer | Help  THE VICTIMS List of passengers and crew aboard Flight 261 Biographical sketches of several passengers  ABOUT THE PLANE A look at McDonnell Douglas's MD-80 series More from the Boeing Web site  ABOUT ALASKA AIRLINES Alaska Airlines Web site Has its roots in a three-seat shuttle service begun in 1932 between Anchorage and Bristol Bay, Alaska. The service merged with Star Air Service in 1934 and, after several more mergers, adopted the name Alaska Airlines. With deregulation in 1979, Alaska began expanding throughout the West Coast and within a decade had tripled in size. Alaska now carries more than 12 million customers per year, and its route system serves more than 40 cities in Alaska, Canada, Mexico and five Western states. Alaska says its fleet of 88 Boeing jets is the youngest among all major airlines. Alaska planes are distinctive for the image of an Eskimo painted on their tails. Source: Associated Press  CRASH TIMELINE Reconstruction of the crash of Flight 261 Following is summary of the last radio exchanges of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, as described by John Hammerschmidt of the National Transportation Safety Board. These are not direct quotes from pilots and controllers, but are based on what the NTSB called a  rough transcript.  Times are Pacific Standard. 3:55 p.m. Last routine transmission before problems are reported. Los Angeles ATC (air traffic control center located in Palmdale, Calif.) clears Flight 261 to head for San Francisco at 31,000 feet. 4:10 p.m. Flight 261 advises it is having control difficulties and descends to 26,000 feet. Seconds later Flight 261 reports it is at 23,700 feet. Discussion about pilots having trouble controlling the plane. 10 second later ATC asks Flight 261 what altitude it wants to maintain. 4:11 p.m. ATC asks Flight 261 its condition. Flight 261 advises it is "kind of stabilized," in Hammerschmidt's words, and is going to do some troubleshooting. Flight 261 asks for clearance to fly between 20,000 and 25,000 feet. ATC gives clearance. 4:14 p.m. ATC asks if Flight 261 needs anything. Flight 261 responds that pilots are still working on the problem. Seconds later Discussion between air traffic controllers about handing off control of plane from one sector to the next. 4:15 p.m. ATC traffic control hands off to a new controller who was aware of its problems. Seconds later Flight 261 advises it has a jammed stabilizer and difficulty maintaining altitude. Pilots think they can maintain altitude and land at Los Angeles International Airport. 4:16 p.m. Flight 261 cleared to land at LAX. ATC asks if flight needs a lower altitude. Flight 261 says it needs to get to 10,000 feet and change configuration -- set the wing flaps to slow the plane down -- while over water. ATC issues clearance to 17,000 feet. Flight 261 says OK and advises it needs a block of altitudes. Last known transmission of Flight 261. 4:17 p.m. ATC advises Flight 261 to contact another sector on a different frequency. Transmission not acknowledged. 4:21 p.m. Flight 261 is lost off radar. Source: Associated Press

Flight 261, heading from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco and later to Seattle, went down at 4:36 p.m. PST, the airline said.

A large field of debris rolled in big swells about eight miles offshore as aircraft and small boats converged on the site just before sunset. Hours later, the high-power lights of commercial squid boats illuminated the darkness as a cutter and small boats continued the search.

Several bodies were found, Coast Guard Lt. Chuck Diorio said, but he could not give a specific number.

"Every resource is out there to find people,'' said Coast Guard Capt. George Wright. "We're actively searching for survivors. ... In 58-degree water temperature, people can survive. We're not going to quit until we're positive there's absolutely no chance.''

Alaska Airlines spokesman Jack Evans said the plane was carrying 83 passengers and five crew members.

The plane was an MD-83, part of the MD-80 series aircraft built by McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing, said John Thom, a spokesman for Boeing's Douglas aircraft unit. The plane that crashed had been delivered to Alaska Airlines in 1992, Thom said.

The airline said the pilot reported having problems with the "stabilizer trim'' and asked to be diverted shortly before the plane crashed. "Radar indicates it fell from 17,000 feet and then was lost from radar,'' San Francisco airport spokesman Ron Wilson told KRON-TV.

On the MD-80 series airplanes, the horizontal stabilizer looks like a small wing mounted on top of the tail. The stabilizer, which includes panels that pitch the nose up and down, is brought into balance, or "trimmed,'' from the cockpit.

If a plane lost its horizontal stabilizer, it would have no means to keep the nose pointed at the proper angle up or down, and the plane would begin an uncontrollable dive.

A source with close knowledge of the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the flight was normal and stable until the crew reported control problems. Radar showed the plane plunging toward the ocean shortly afterward.

Evans said the plane had no previous stabilizer problems, and FAA spokesman John Clabes said it had never been in an accident.

Evans also said the plane was serviced on Sunday, went through a low-level maintenance check on Jan. 11 and had a more thorough routine check last January. It was unclear what Sunday's service entailed.

Alaska Airlines, which has a distinctive image of an Eskimo painted on the tails of its planes, has an excellent safety record. It serves more than 40 cities in Alaska, Canada, Mexico and five Western states.

The National Transportation Safety Board was assembling a team of investigators in Washington, D.C., and planned to send them to the crash site, spokesman Pat Cariseo said. Gov. Gray Davis said he had ordered the California National Guard to offer whatever help is needed.

The weather was clear at the crash site, where the water is between 300 and 750 feet deep, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Jim McPherson.

On Sunday, a Kenya Airways flight crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after take off from Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The Airbus 310 carried 10 crew members and 169 passengers. At least 10 people survived.

Last Oct. 31, EgyptAir Flight 990 plummeted into the ocean 60 miles south of the Massachusetts island of Nantucket. All 217 people aboard the Boeing 767 were killed.

The most recent fatal crash in the United States involving an MD-80 series jet was last summer's American Airlines accident in Little Rock, Ark. Eleven people were killed and 110 injured when an MD-82 landed in high wind and heavy rain, ran off the runway, broke apart and caught fire.

The MD-80 is a twin-jet version of the more widely known DC-9, with a single aisle and an engine on each side of the tail. It went into service in 1980 and has had at least five variations that offer different ranges and seating capacities.

Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle, operates several flights from Puerto Vallarta, a resort on Mexico's Pacific coast, to the U.S.

The airline had two fatal accidents in the 1970s, both in Alaska, according to Airsafe.com, a Web site that tracks plane crashes.

In 1971, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 727-100 approaching Juneau crashed into a mountain slope after the crew had received misleading navigational information. All 104 passengers and seven crew members and were killed.

In 1976, one passenger was killed when a 727 overran the runway after landing in Ketchikan.

San Francisco airport officials offered to help friends and families of the victims Monday night, Wilson said.

"Whatever they want us to do,'' he said. "We'll put them up for the night. We'll feed them. We'll console them. We'll bring to them whatever they desire.''

Associated Press Writer Glen Johnson contributed to this report.