Alaska Airlines Flight 261
Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was an Alaska Airlines flight of a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft that crashed into the Pacific Ocean on January 31, 2000, roughly 2.7 miles (4.3 km; 2.3 nmi) north of Anacapa Island, California, following a catastrophic loss of pitch control, killing all 88 on board: two pilots, three flight attendants, and 83 passengers. The flight was a scheduled international passenger flight from Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport near Seattle, Washington, United States, with an intermediate stop at San Francisco International Airport near San Francisco, California.
N963AS, the Alaska Airlines MD-83 aircraft involved in the accident, seen in 1992 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | January 31, 2000 |
| Summary | Jackscrew failure caused by improper maintenance leading to loss of control |
| 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 | Puerto Vallarta Int'l Airport |
| Stopover | San Francisco Int'l Airport |
| Destination | Seattle–Tacoma Int'l Airport |
| Occupants | 88 |
| Passengers | 83 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 88 |
| Survivors | 0 |
The subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that inadequate maintenance led to excessive wear and eventual failure of a critical flight control system during flight. The probable cause was stated to be "a loss of airplane pitch control resulting from the in-flight failure of the horizontal stabilizer trim system jackscrew assembly's Acme nut threads." For their efforts to save the plane, both pilots were posthumously awarded the Air Line Pilots Association Gold Medal for Heroism.