Thats affirm, said Thompson. She played fast-pitch softball in high school and soccer at Bellevue Community College. Sheryl Thompson, 33, Valdez, AlaskaTraveling with her parents, Morris and Thelma Thompson, Ms. Thompson was an important figure in extreme skiing in Valdez, helping organize annual events. Alaska Airlines flight AS261 crashed on January 31, 2000, about 1621 Pacific standard time, Alaska Airlines, Inc., flight AS261, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N963AS : it crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, California.. For two hours, the crew of the ill-fated jet had struggled with a malfunctioning stabilizer, unaware that this critical flight control system had turned into a ticking time bomb counting down toward catastrophic failure. Prosecutors said that Arnston was an alcoholic during at least a substantial portion" of his career, and concealed the fact from both the carrier and FAA. When the jackscrew was hauled to the surface, investigators could not find any trace of grease on it, except for some old, dried out leftovers outside the normal working area of the screw. Within the next several minutes the pilots expected to pass abeam Los Angeles off the coast, and they were strongly considering a diversion to LAX, given that none of their troubleshooting had fixed the problem. All Rights Reserved. The rec room at the Karlsson home featured a jukebox, a pinball machine and a bumper-pool table. The evidence indicates that he had flown with an alcohol level more than three times the legal limit, US Attorney Nicola T. Hanna said in a statement. Web19K views 2 years ago. The pilot of Flight 261, Capt. WebAnswer (1 of 11): If the pilots of Alaska Airlines 261 had known exactly what was wrong, is there anyway they could have salvaged the situation? It was no wonder, given these findings, why Alaska Airlines mechanics didnt know how to grease the jackscrew, and why nobody held them accountable for not doing so properly. The FAAs special inspection report noted that the position of Director of Maintenance had gone unfilled since 1998; the Director of Operations position was empty; the Director of Safety was also the Director of Quality Control and the Director of Training and didnt report to high-level management; there was no maintenance training curriculum; on-the-job training was completely unstructured; the procedures in use didnt match those outlined in the maintenance manual; planes had been released from C-checks with paperwork incomplete; perishable and consumable materials had expired; shift turnover paperwork was missing, unsigned, or incomplete; work cards were not filled out properly; and more the list went on and on. No survivors Erickson indicated that he and the pilot had been drinking alcoholic beverages, investigator Brice Banning wrote. A Newport Beach airline pilot has been arrested and charged with piloting an Alaska Airlines jet full of passengers while under the influence of alcohol, authorities said Thursday. Stokes had three college-age children, as well as a brother in Seattle and a sister in Alaska. The stab trim, I think.. If youve got any hidden circuit breakers wed love to know about em. Over the next couple minutes the pilots reported to maintenance that electrical current was present when they activated the trim motors, but that the motors nevertheless could not move the stabilizer. It got worse, okay. Violent vibrations shook the airplane. He had gone to Mexico with his cousins, Anjesh Prasad and Avinesh Prasad, to celebrate. Arnston was then removed from all safety-sensitive duties by Alaska Airlines, and he retired from employment with the carrier after a 20-plus year career as a captain, KTLA reports. The last minutes of those on board the doomed MD-83 would have been sheer hell, as the plane went inverted, corkscrewed, pirouetted, and spun like a top during its final dive. And therein lay the problem: throughout the period leading up to the crash, Alaska Airlines slowly removed all the procedural layers of redundancy which were designed to prevent the jackscrew from deteriorating to the point of failure. Mr. Marquez was flying home alone while Mr. Rettinger stayed behind for a longer vacation. Web19K views 2 years ago. She and Monte Donaldson had just bought a home and planned to be married, then honeymoon in Ireland and Bali. Video of the flight as well as the cockpit voice recorder confirm this. Ryan, who owned a commercial printing business, Copy Cat in Redmond, was an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam. Finally, at 16:19 and 21 seconds, the stop gave way with a faint thump. Federal regulations limit alcohol levels to 0.04 for airplane crew members.Were the bodies of Flight 261 recovered? Were slowing here, and were gonna do a little troubleshooting, can you give me a block altitude between twenty and twenty five?. The pilot of Flight 261, Capt. FAA regulations say a pilot cannot have a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more, which is half the legal limit for driving in the United States. Rodrigo Laigo, 53, Fairfield, Calif.An engineer for Arco, he was traveling with his wife, Naomi, on one of their many golf vacations. A big, huge plunge, thank you, said the controller. Market data provided by Factset. Thompson was traveling with her husband, Morris Thompson, and daughter, Sheryl Thompson. The lead mechanic that day was John Liotine, a rare Alaska Airlines employee who still took safety seriously. Video Alaska Airlines Pilot Accused of Flying Drunk - ABC News Jimmy Carter Kellie Pickler's husband dies Georgia shooting Escaped NYC zoo owl Tesla union launch Alaska Airlines Pilot Accused of Flying Drunk Authorities say 60-year-old David Hans Arnston flew drunk twice in one day. Sarah Pearson, 36, SeattleWith her husband, Rodney Pearson, and their children, Rachel and Grace, she was vacationing with friends and Queen Anne neighbors, the Clemetsons. Born in Hawaii, Mr. Ing grew up on Mercer Island, graduating from Mercer Island High School in 1990. Lives would have been saved if they had. The horrific crash killed all 88 people on board and raised troubling questions about one of Americas largest airlines. He was traveling with William Bryant, his best friend. She was traveling with her father, Dr. David Clemetson, her stepmother, Carolyn Clemetson, and their blended family. A Warner Bros. Then in 1999 Alaska Airlines retaliated against John Liotine, putting him on indefinite leave from his job and circulating false rumors about him; the airline sought to portray him in the media as a disgruntled employee who wanted to get back at supervisors who passed him over for promotion. The flight, eventually bound for Seattle, crashed off the California coast on Jan. 31, 2000. WebLoosely inspired by the plane crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, the film stars Denzel Washington as William "Whip" Whitaker Sr., an alcoholic airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mechanical failure, saving nearly everyone on board. Gabriela Chavez, 33, Puerto Vallarta, MexicoA homemaker, wife and mother of one, Ms. Chavez was flying to San Francisco to visit her sister. Tragically, they didnt. Two electric motors spin the jackscrew within the nut, causing the stabilizer to move up or down. Malcolm Branson, 39, Seward, AlaskaAn oiler for the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system, Mr. Branson was vacationing with his fiancee, Janice Stokes. Over time, this minute difference will cause the jackscrew to wear away the threads on the nut if metal-on-metal contact is allowed to occur. James Ryan, 30, PortlandA flight attendant for Alaska, James Ryan turned 30 the day the family left for Mexico. I went tab down, right, and it should have come back. Terry Ryan, 55, RedmondMr. At 16:09, he said, Im gonna click it off. The turn of the millennium had just come and gone, and the future again seemed limitless. N963AS, the plane that would later become Alaska Airlines flight 261, was one of many in the airlines fleet that was subject to these marginal maintenance practices. Push push push, push the blue side up!, Okay, now lets kick rudder, left rudder, left rudder. But as the airline began cutting costs over the following decade, one of the areas that got put on the chopping block was maintenance. Hes in sight, hes, uh, definitely out of control, said the SkyWest pilot. It disappeared from view and witnesses saw a plume of black smoke. What a hard way to die: so an airline can make more money., ________________________________________________________________. An airliner cannot truly fly upside down maintaining level flight in such a condition is essentially impossible, and the engines will quickly die but if anyone ever came close, it was Captain Thompson and First Officer Tansky as they heroically tried to save their stricken aircraft, even after all hope was lost. Don Shaw, 63, SheltonAffable tour guide, Mr. Shaw was a fixture in the halls of the Legislature. But when we slowed down lets slow it, lets get it down to two hundred knots and see what happens., Now Thompson and Tansky slowed down and deployed the flaps and slats, simulating a landing configuration, to make sure the plane would be controllable on final approach. Seeking opportunity during the Great Depression, he stowed away on an Alaska-bound steamship hoping to find better times. WebAnswer (1 of 11): If the pilots of Alaska Airlines 261 had known exactly what was wrong, is there anyway they could have salvaged the situation? Indeed, all seemed normal as flight 261 climbed out from Puerto Vallarta, heading for its cruising altitude of 31,000 feet. Im sorry, this airplane isnt gonna go anywhere for a while.. ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) The pilot of an airplane in a fatal Alaska crash had six times the legal limit of alcohol in his system for flying, according to federal investigators. Almost all of these recommendations were implemented. Alaska has not had a fatal crash since the overhaul, nor has there been another major loss of a US airliner due to any kind of mechanical failure. AMERICAN AIRLINES PASSENGER BITTEN BY BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER ON PLANE, LAWSUIT CLAIMS. Craig Pulanco was working as a flight attendant aboard Flight 261. WebOn Flight 261, the nut portion of the jackscrew (located on the horizontal stabilizer) screwed itself off the jackscew. Arntson was released on a $25,000 bond and was ordered to appear for an arraignment on February 10. Federal regulations limit alcohol levels to 0.04 for airplane crew members.Were the bodies of Flight 261 recovered? First published on January 21, 2016 / 9:24 PM. PLANE CRASH, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, Pacific Ocean Other Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list more. In order to catch abnormal wear before it escalated to the point of failure, MD-80 operators regularly inspected their stabilizer jackscrew nuts to ensure that the wear remained within limits. Lorna Thorgrimson, 52, PoulsboTraveling with her husband, Robert Thorgrimson, Mrs. Thorgrimson was also accompanied by her close friends, Patty and Bob Williams. The design of the jackscrew on the MD-80 series was identical to that of the original 1960s-era Douglas DC-9, which was certified to meet requirements stating that no reasonably probable single failure of the control system could jeopardize the controllability of the airplane. You mean, use this again? Tansky asked, presumably pointing at the trim switches. That plane just started to do a big, huge plunge, said one pilot. January 22, 2016 Examined 9:54 Whats next for Market data provided by Factset. Both Captain Thompson and First Officer Tansky posthumously received the Air Line Pilots Association Gold Medal for Heroism. The charge of operating a common carrier while under the influence of alcohol or drugs carries a statutory maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. The pilot of Flight 261, Capt. During the course of the investigation and in its final report, the NTSB issued a large number of recommendations, including that the lubrication procedure for the MD-80 series jackscrew be revised; that a more accurate method of measuring wear on the jackscrew be developed; that maintenance technicians be specifically taught how to grease and inspect jackscrews; that the FAA not approve lubrication interval extensions without the airline providing supporting data; that all airlines be surveyed to ensure compliance with jackscrew lubrication procedures; that a bulletin be issued instructing pilots not to troubleshoot inoperative flight controls; that maintenance personnel and dispatchers be trained not to suggest continuation of a flight that is experiencing a major malfunction; that the jackscrew be made easier for maintenance workers to access; that an inspector be required to sign off on every lubrication of the jackscrew; that all maintenance intervals for critical components be re-examined based on data analysis to ensure that they are not too long; that the application process for maintenance interval changes be reformed; that MD-80 series jackscrew inspections be made on a tighter schedule; that some failsafe mechanism be incorporated to ensure the redundancy of the MD-80 jackscrew; and that the FAA ensure future stabilizer designs cant have a single point of failure. A former Alaska Airlines captain faces jail time for piloting a plane carrying passengers while under the influence of alcohol, over four years after the incident took place. The investigation uncovered a daunting list of operational problems and regulatory mistakes that led to the crash. As investigators recovered more and more of the plane from the ocean floor, a troubling picture of the sequence of events began to emerge. Web3.3M views 1 year ago Air Alaska Flight 261 dives into the ocean shortly after takeoff, killing the 88 passengers and crew on board. Bryant was a travel agent who was excited when he received free tickets for a trip to Mexico. Mechanical stops attached to the jackscrew prevent the stabilizer from moving farther than 2.5 degrees upward or 12.5 degrees downward. I cant reach it! said Tansky. All rights reserved. Avinesh Amit Deo, 23, BurienThe Highline High School alumnus had just graduated from ITT Technical Institute and was to have started his career at the time of the crash. All rights reserved. For several months he surreptitiously recorded his bosses violating safety rules and handed the tapes over to FAA investigators. She was a food-and-beverage agent for Alaskas sister airline, Horizon Air. At 15:55, the dispatcher returned with wind speeds, wind directions, and runway conditions at San Francisco and Los Angeles. Epilogue. In September 2000, he filed a $20 million libel lawsuit against Alaska Airlines, arguing that he had been right all along and that Alaska had maliciously harmed his reputation. The seemingly simple task of greasing the jackscrew was not immune to this degradation of the maintenance environment. All large airplanes have what is referred to as a trimmable horizontal stabilizer. Contact me via @Admiral_Cloudberg on Reddit, @KyraCloudy on Twitter, or by email at [email protected]. Thus the fundamental principle of redundancy was violated. Joan Smith, 53, Belmont, Calif.A manager of a San Francisco medical office, she had been called home on business from a monthlong vacation with her son, Jesse, and her daughter, Holly, whom she left behind in Mexico. Erickson was a student pilot. Holy shit, said Thompson, pulling back hard on the controls. Four minutes later, a warning light illuminated to inform the crew that the autopilot was unable to move the stabilizer. Those operating commercial vehicles may face criminal penalties and license suspensions. Meanwhile, N963AS continued to fly, and maintenance workers continued to grease the jackscrew every eight months. Still flying inverted, the plane leveled further, to nine degrees nose down. LOS ANGELES -- Federal authorities have arrested a former Alaska Airlines captain on federal charges of piloting a plane while intoxicated. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says, Pittsburgh woman missing for 31 years found alive in Puerto Rico, Alex Murdaugh found guilty of murders of wife and son. She was a treasured volunteer at a Eugene elementary school. The basic design of the stabilizer is relatively simple. The anger he must have felt is difficult to fathom. Web3.3M views 1 year ago Air Alaska Flight 261 dives into the ocean shortly after takeoff, killing the 88 passengers and crew on board. He was traveling with his cousins, Anjesh Prasad and Avinesh Amit Deo. Barbara Hatleberg, 64, Eugene, Ore.The wife of Glenn Hatleburg, mother of three and grandmother of two, she was retired but used her skills at accounting and finance to volunteer in the office of her church. He worked for a San Francisco wholesale ice-cream manufacturer. Russell was traveling with his companion, Jean Permison, and her family. At this point the checklist said Consider stab jammed, do not use autopilot, and offered a list of considerations to be made during landing. Alaska two sixty one, say again sir, said the controller. Technical logs fell through the cracks; critical forms were left incomplete; paperwork was outright falsified to show work done when it was not. David Hans Arntson, 62, of Newport Beach, California, agreed to enter a guilty plea in US District Court this week. WebAlaska Airlines Flight 261 was a flight from Licenciado Gustavo Daz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, to SeattleTacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington, United States, with an intermediate stop at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California. No survivors Erickson indicated that he and the pilot had been drinking alcoholic beverages, investigator Brice Banning wrote. Clemetson was traveling with her husband, Dr. David Clemetson and their family. 13 months later. In some accidents, relatives of those who died can take some small comfort in the possibility that their loved ones never knew what hit them. Russell and Permison lived in a retirement community where they were beloved for their lively parties and volunteer work. Still descending at high speed, flight 261s engines proved unable to keep combustion going in such an unusual attitude and started to stall with a series of loud bangs. The actual protocol at Alaska Airlines was to inspect the jackscrew for wear at every second C-check, a comprehensive multi-day inspection that every airplane undergoes approximately once a year. He was coming home with his wife, Carol. It was the first sign that something was in fact gravely wrong with their airplane. Ileana Ost, 30, San Bruno, Calif.She had just returned to work at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter in San Francisco after four months of maternity leave following the birth of her first child, Emily. Uh, if you want to try it, thats ok with me, if not, thats fine. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much The co-pilot also recalled Arntson saying "I bet it's for me.". Legal Statement. Instead it went the other way., What do you think. By torqueing the screw up and down without turning it, and measuring the amount of play in the system, it was possible to roughly determine the depth of the wear on the nut threads, which the manufacturers guidelines stated must be less than one millimeter. No decision was made at this point about whether or not to divert. He then flew a plane from Portland, Oregon, to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. Aloysius Han, 65, Oakland, Calif.A retired architect for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Mr. Han often traveled to Mexico, where he owned a condominium and other property. He was traveling with several college friends. Another pilot reports hes really looking pretty bad there, ahead and to your right, do you see him?, Yes sir, I concur, said the SkyWest pilot, He is definitely in a nose down position descending quite rapidly., Flight 261 started to corkscrew, pirouetting and rolling inverted as it fell. The 2 pilots, 3 cabin crew members, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the airplane Harry Stasinos, 54, BrierMr. The basis for the approval of the design under this rule was the fact that the nut has two independent threads that did not link with one another, such that if one thread failed, the other could still hold the jackscrew in place. Long story short: the result of an investigation into drinking before a flight is typically career-ending. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. According to court documents, Arntson piloted two Alaska Airlines flights on June 20, 2014. In hindsight, the crew should have turned around and immediately landed back in Puerto Vallarta. She was traveling with her former college classmates. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Its on the stop now, its on the stop, Thompson said. The only layer of protection against a catastrophe was therefore the assumption that poorly trained, low-paid maintenance workers would apply enough grease. How long were they stuck in the woods after the plane crash? ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) The pilot of an airplane in a fatal Alaska crash had six times the legal limit of alcohol in his system for flying, according to federal investigators. And at the same time, the increased inspection interval meant that it was now possible for a jackscrew nut to pass an inspection, later receive inadequate lubrication, and then wear down to the point of failure, all before the next inspection came around. By requesting any altitude between 20,000 and 25,000 feet, the crew of flight 261 could ensure that if they nosedived again, nearby planes wouldnt be in danger. Alaska Airlines 261 is a chartered flight operated by Alaska Airlines. Numerous people saw the plane flying parallel to a mountain ridge before it turned and descended. What temperature outside is unsafe for babies? Okay, we had a big bang back there, said the flight attendant. Robert Thorgrimson, 63, PoulsboA special-education teacher for North Kitsap School District, Mr. Thorgrimson was known as a sincere man who helped save the local chapter of DeMolay, the Masons club for boys. At that moment they effectively were dead. The flight departs from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and arrives in Haines, Skip to content Yeah, no, said Thompson. Mr. Deo immigrated from Fiji with his family when he was young. The criminal investigation also proved to be a disappointment. LOS ANGELES -- Federal authorities have arrested a former Alaska Airlines captain on federal charges of piloting a plane while intoxicated. She had treated herself to a weekend getaway in Puerto Vallarta and was scheduled to go on the air two hours after the flight was expected to land in San Francisco. Juan Marquez, 34, San FranciscoAn adult-education book salesman, he owned two condos in Puerto Vallarta with his partner, Dale Rettinger, and went there often to relax. View on timesmachine. By this point the amount of force he needed to apply to the control column to keep the nose level was pushing him to the limit of his physical ability. He is a resident of Newport Beach, California. Fire on Lake City Way in Seattle raises smoke, flooding concerns, WA to end masking requirement in health care, correctional facilities, Tacoma woman refusing tuberculosis treatment continues to face arrest, Be bolder to get light rail done, expert panel tells Sound Transit, Driver makes U-turn, hits pedestrian near Pioneer Square, police say. Also killed was the airplanes owner, Karl Erickson, 55, and David Osborn, 60, both of Girdwood, and Paul Wiley, 37, of Superior, Arizona. Mr. Williams wore a ring identifying him as a Mason; the ring was found off the California coast and saved as a gift for his daughter, Tracy Knizek. (To avoid confusion, from here on out nose up and nose down, as they relate to the pitch of the airplane, will be used to describe the stabilizers direction of motion. Larry Baldridge Jr., 34, Novato, Calif.A businessman with a knack for the Internet, he was working to set up venture-capital business with Michael Schwab, the son of legendary brokerage leader Charles Schwab. Avinesh Prasad, 19, BurienA beloved employee of HomeGrocer.com and a star on the company soccer team, he moved from Fiji with his family when he was 18. Stacy Schuyler, 20, Federal WayA ground-service agent for Horizon Air, Ms. Schuyler was a 1997 graduate of Puyallup High School. Pilots Thompson and Tansky disconnected the autopilot to see what they were up against, and found that the stabilizer had jammed slightly nose down, requiring constant force on the elevators to overcome it and continue climbing. WebAlaska Airlines Flight 261 was a flight from Licenciado Gustavo Daz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, to SeattleTacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington, United States, with an intermediate stop at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California. When he landed in Orange County, he was selected for random drug and alcohol testing, according to a statement from the US Attorneys Office. Following the procedures prescribed in the checklists, they tried cycling the motors on and off, checking the trim motor circuit breakers, and using the manual trim controls. As any good crew should do, Thompson and Tansky then pulled out the checklists for a runaway or inoperative stabilizer. When greased regularly, the nut on the MD-80 series is designed to last for 30,000 flight hours before requiring replacement long enough that most planes will see only two or three different jackscrew nuts during their entire time in service. Over the next couple minutes, the pilots found the plane to be reasonably stable at lower speeds. They heard a helicopter, but they were unable to fire the flare gun successfully and the helicopter left. Pearson was the first chef at the Jake OShaughnesseys and F.X.