Alaska Airlines Flight 261
fatal aviation accident that occured on January 31, 2000 over the Pacific Ocean / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was an international passenger flight from Puerto Vallarta to a stopover in San Francisco International Airport, to its destination in Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft carrying 83 passengers and 5 crew members aboard. It suffered a serious mechanical failure caused by jackscrew on January 31, 2000, while flying over the Pacific Ocean, crashed into 4.3 km north of Anacapa Island in California. There are no survivors.
Accident | |
---|---|
Date | January 31, 2000 (2000-01-31) |
Summary | Loss of control caused by jackscrew failure due to improper maintenance |
Site | Pacific Ocean near Anacapa Island, California, U.S. 34°03.5′N 119°20.8′W |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas MD-83 |
Operator | Alaska Airlines |
IATA flight No. | AS261 |
ICAO flight No. | ASA261 |
Call sign | ALASKA 261 |
Registration | N963AS |
Flight origin | Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport |
Stopover | San Francisco Int'l Airport |
Destination | Seattle–Tacoma Int'l Airport |
Occupants | 88 |
Passengers | 83 |
Crew | 5 |
Fatalities | 88 |
Survivors | 0 |
Flight 261 left Puerto Vallarta at 14:30 PST. While en-route to San Francisco, the crew became aware of a horizontal stabilizer jam and kept Alaska Airlines maintenance informed of the issue while airborne at FL310. Captain Tansky tried a solution to unjam the stabilizer. The stabilizer unjammed and the aircraft assumed an extreme nose down attitude. Both pilots applied back pressure to their controls and recovered from the dive at FL260. The flight crew contact Los Angeles ARTCC to tell them that they are descending through FL260.