According to the criminal complaint filed Tuesday, Arntson was the pilot of two Alaska Airlines flights on in June 2014, in which he was under the influence. Im thinking, can it get any worse, but it probably can, he continued. For the next few minutes, they calculated landing weights and center of gravity and other values while controllers in Los Angeles prepared to accommodate them. She is also survived by a son, Richard, in the Bay Area. Many of Alaskas maintenance workers received on the job training only without any formal curriculum. What caused Alaska Airlines 261 to crash? Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders of wife and son, Biden had cancerous skin lesion removed last month, doctor says, White supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes kicked out of CPAC, Tom Sizemore, actor known for "Saving Private Ryan" and "Heat," dies at 61, Biden team readies new advisory panel ahead of expected reelection bid, At least 10 dead after winter storm slams South, Midwest, House Democrats unhappy with White House handling of D.C.'s new criminal code. Speedbrakes! Captain Thompson called out, still trying to find ways to arrest the dive. A ground-service agent for Horizon Air, she was outgoing and athletic, an avid volleyball player who hoped to become a personal trainer. He was traveling with his wife, Thelma, and daughter Sheryl. The main character Whip Whitaker (played by Denzel Washington) has been through a divorce and the estrangement from his son. Gabriela Chavez, 33, Puerto Vallarta, MexicoA homemaker, wife and mother of one, Ms. Chavez was flying to San Francisco to visit her sister. He was survived by his wife, Gabriel, two daughters and two sons. With the stabilizer angled 3.1 degrees toward nose down, more than the design maximum of 2.5 degrees, flight 261 immediately entered a high-speed dive, hurtling downward at more than 6,000 feet per minute. The maintenance technician, having received all the information he could get, said, Okay, thank you sir, see you there., Meanwhile, the conversation had apparently encouraged Captain Thompson to try moving the stabilizer again. Jean Gandesbery, 66, Davis, Calif.An adjunct instructor of writing at the University of San Franciscos Sacramento campus, Ms. Gandesbery just had her childhood memoirs published by Minerva Press in a novel, Seven Mile Lake. She was married to Robert Gandesbery. Meanwhile, N963AS continued to fly, and maintenance workers continued to grease the jackscrew every eight months. Long story short: the result of an investigation into drinking before a flight is typically career-ending. SkyWest 5154, you still got your eyes on him, sir?. They had just moved to the Bay Area from Los Angeles, where they had raised three sons. After touching down at John Wayne Airport and spotting the drug tester, Arnston allegedly said, I bet its for me, according to his co-pilot on the two flights said, CBS reports. 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. Following the incident, Arntson retired from Alaska Airlines. 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. It was the first sign that something was in fact gravely wrong with their airplane. By nightfall, working with the help of flood lights from squid fishing boats, recovery workers managed to find just seven bodies. Neither the electric switches (which the pilots called pickle switches) nor the fully manual trim handles (referred to as the suitcase handles) could move the stabilizer. I think its at the stop, full stop, said Thompson. 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. It began life as a regional airline in Alaska, and by the time deregulation arrived in the late 1970s, it only had one destination in the lower 48 states. He is survived by his wife of five years, Susan da Silva. Anjesh Prasad, 19, BurienA 1998 Highline High School graduate and dedicated sports fan, he worked as a ground service agent for Horizon Air. I dont think we should, if it can fly, its like . He was the grandson of O.B. Abigail Busche, 25, SeattleRecently hired by Microsoft as a permanent employee, she was traveling with her husband, Ryan Busche. 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. In the cockpit, the pilots heard a loud clunk followed by two thumps, and the plane pitched steeply downward. 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?. Alaska Airlines 261 is a chartered flight operated by Alaska Airlines. How long were they stuck in the woods after the plane crash? David Hans Arntson, 60, was arrested Wednesday morning and arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles, according to a Department of Justice news release. Russell and Permison lived in a retirement community where they were beloved for their lively parties and volunteer work. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Gotta get it over again said Thompson. Meghann Hall, 19, EnumclawA graduate of Enumclaw High School, she had considered a career in sports medicine or coaching. But airline dispatchers in Seattle were less keen on this idea and preferred that flight 261 continue to San Francisco as scheduled. Janice Stokes, 48, Ketchikan, AlaskaMs. He was working in Microsofts games group as a temporary employee for ArtSource. On board flight 261, Captain Thompson vented to First Officer Tansky: Drives me nuts, he said. The Safety Board found that this unsafe inspection interval was only approved indirectly by the FAA. Erickson was a student pilot. WebOn Flight 261, the nut portion of the jackscrew (located on the horizontal stabilizer) screwed itself off the jackscew. Captain Thompson was not happy with this reasoning. Both were Alaskan natives. Monte Donaldson, 31, SeattleA freelance landscaper, his passion was music and filmmaking. Badly shaken witnesses reported the crash to air traffic control within seconds. He came to America from Fiji when he was 17 months old. January 22, 2016 Examined 9:54 Whats next for He was coming home with his wife, Carol. David Hans Arntson, 62, of Newport Beach, California, agreed to enter a guilty plea in US District Court this week. Investigators also found that the planes gross weight at the time of the accident was about 50 pounds (22.7 kilograms) over the approved maximum. 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.. AMERICAN AIRLINES PASSENGER BITTEN BY BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER ON PLANE, LAWSUIT CLAIMS. But we will be going into LAX, and Id anticipate us parking there in about twenty to thirty minutes.. Epilogue. Ah, here we go, said Captain Thompson, uttering the last words captured on the cockpit voice recorder. Thompson was an Air Force veteran who had flown for Alaska Airlines for more than 17 years. However, Alaska Airlines maintenance personnel often did it in as little as one hour not because they found a more efficient way, but because they didnt understand the proper procedure and skipped some of the steps. Instead, all they could find was an oil slick and some light floating debris. There is a long-held belief in many cultures that the number 13 is unlucky. The trim might be, and then it might be uh, if somethings popped back there. Fuck me!. Charles Weimer, 31, and three others died in the Aug. 4 crash near Girdwood, a ski town in the municipality of Anchorage. The NTSB report did not identify a probable cause of the crash. He is also survived by a grown son, Fred. Im sorry, this airplane isnt gonna go anywhere for a while.. I dont know, my adrenalines going, said Thompson. Alaska two sixty one, say again sir, said the controller. Friends said she was shy but very gentle and loving. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. As they struggled to regain control, Thompson radioed Los Angeles and said, Center, Alaska two six one, we are in a dive here, and Ive lost control, vertical pitch! An overspeed warning blared in the cockpit. 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. She is survived by her mother, Dr. Claire Barnett of Seattle, a family-practice doctor. Alaska Airlines 261 is a chartered flight operated by Alaska Airlines. The couple was considering starting their own insurance agency. 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. 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. 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. The rec room at the Karlsson home featured a jukebox, a pinball machine and a bumper-pool table. You have the airplane. This article is written without reference to and supersedes the original. The free-swinging stabilizer rotated up past its stop, slamming back against the aerodynamic fairing that encased the tail. Stasinos was a longtime Seattle insurance agent and an active member of the Seattle-area Greek community. Most importantly, the National Transportation Safety Board excoriated Alaska Airlines decision to increase the intervals between jackscrew lubrications and wear inspections, and the FAAs approval of these intervals, which it considered to be a direct cause of the accident. The flight departs from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and arrives in Haines, Skip to content Stacy Schuyler, 20, Federal WayA ground-service agent for Horizon Air, Ms. Schuyler was a 1997 graduate of Puyallup High School. He had flown for four decades and worked for Alaska Airlines since 1985. We did both the pickle switches and the suitcase handles, he told the maintenance technician, and it ran away full nose trim down., And now were in a pinch, Thompson continued, so were holding, uh, were worse than we were.. The crew scrambled to react to the massive upset. It was clear that nobody had survived the crash. She was traveling with her husband, Terry, their two sons, and their sons friends. John Cuthbertso, 70, Danville, Calif.A smallish man with a Scottish brogue and gray beard who looked younger than his 70 years, he used to own a heating and air-conditioning company and drove a flashy car. 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. Should you poke holes in potatoes before boiling? And because of the increased interval between applications of new grease, a jackscrew with insufficient grease couldnt expect to see more until the plane had been in the air for another 2,250 hours. That plane just started to do a big, huge plunge, said one pilot. 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. 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. Indeed, by the end of the 1990s, what had once been a small regional carrier had successfully transformed itself into one of Americas largest airlines. Mr. Marquez was flying home alone while Mr. Rettinger stayed behind for a longer vacation. She was traveling with her fiance, Malcolm Branson. But after Liotine left for the night, the next shift and the shift supervisors decided to run the test again before taking his measurement at face value. WebOn Flight 261, the nut portion of the jackscrew (located on the horizontal stabilizer) screwed itself off the jackscew. Thats affirm, said Thompson. Ms. Halls only brother died four years ago of a motorcycle accident. And so it was that on a sunny day in January 2000, 83 passengers and five crew boarded Alaska Airlines flight 261 in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, bound for San Francisco, California. Okay, we had a big bang back there, said the flight attendant. In 1998, fed up with a maintenance environment that did not seem to prioritize safety, John Liotine blew the whistle and alerted the FAA to some of Alaskas numerous violations. Numerous people saw the plane flying parallel to a mountain ridge before it turned and descended. Also killed was the airplanes owner, Karl Erickson, 55, and David Osborn, 60, both of Girdwood, and Paul Wiley, 37, of Superior, Arizona. The logo was changed to an image of a smiling Eskimo, which remains today. The lead mechanic that day was John Liotine, a rare Alaska Airlines employee who still took safety seriously. 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. Collins said the bodies recovered were those of an infant, two women and a man. 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. Okay, give me sl see, this is a bitch! said Thompson. Holy shit, said Thompson, pulling back hard on the controls. No survivors Erickson indicated that he and the pilot had been drinking alcoholic beverages, investigator Brice Banning wrote. But the mechanism by which Alaska Airlines fell to such a dismal level of safety is not entirely gone. As far as the pilots were concerned, the electric motors had probably seized and they could fly on to San Francisco without trimming the stabilizer. Some did still less, failing even to ensure that grease totally filled the inside of the nut. Described by friends as a soft-spoken, caring person, Ms. Thompson is survived by two sisters. In September of 1997, maintenance workers in Oakland performed the aforementioned test on N963AS and found a wear depth of exactly one millimeter. He was traveling with William Bryant, his best friend. The US aviation industry has nevertheless managed to go a long time without another major crash, but as for whether something like Alaska 261 could happen again well, never say never. CNN A former Alaska Airlines pilot plans to plead guilty in California to flying with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit for pilots. The two worked together several years at the Roy Potter Insurance Agency. He will be sentenced this spring in US District Court in Santa Ana, California, according to the attorney. PLANE CRASH, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, Pacific Ocean Other Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list more. At that moment they effectively were dead. Miles Clemetson, 6, SeattleThe son of Carolyn Clemetson from a previous marriage, Miles attended John Hay Elementary School on Queen Anne Hill with his stepsisters. The pilots consisted of Captain Edward (Ted) Thompson, 53, who had 17,750 flight hours, and had more than 4,000 hours experience flying MD-80s. She was a flight attendant for Alaska. 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. Carolyn Clemetson, 31, SeattleMrs. So theyre trying to put pressure on you, said Tansky. After Alaska Airlines received the test results it removed Arntson from all safety-sensitive duties. The investigation uncovered a daunting list of operational problems and regulatory mistakes that led to the crash. The controller granted the block altitude. Were pretty busy up here working this situation. Still, the pilots did not give up; Thompson thought it might be possible to roll out right-side-up using the rudder. January 22, 2016 Examined 9:54 Whats next for 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. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Friends described her as a culture bearer who mastered all she attempted. The seemingly simple task of greasing the jackscrew was not immune to this degradation of the maintenance environment. Did maintenance errors cause the tragic crash? Thelma Thompson, 56, Fairbanks, AlaskaMrs. He was traveling with several college friends. Pilots of nearby planes caught sight of flight 261 and radioed Los Angeles air traffic control. Do smaller potatoes take less time to bake. For several months he surreptitiously recorded his bosses violating safety rules and handed the tapes over to FAA investigators. Toni Choate, 48, San FranciscoHe had been a general contractor and cabinet finisher in Visalia, Calif., then bought a bar in Santa Clara, Calif. Do you poke holes in potatoes when boiling? He grew up in Olympia. What a hard way to die: so an airline can make more money., ________________________________________________________________. 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. Legal Statement. 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. Were gonna stay up here and burn a little more gas, get all our ducks in a row, and then well be talking to LAX when we start down to go in there. The plan was to stay on course a little longer, burning fuel to reduce their landing weight and test out the planes handling capabilities, before turning around and heading into Los Angeles. WebOn Flight 261, the nut portion of the jackscrew (located on the horizontal stabilizer) screwed itself off the jackscew. 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? 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Finally, the Safety Board also felt that there were lessons to be learned from the actions of the pilots. At that moment they effectively were dead. 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. 2023 Cable News Network. 13 months later. Less than one second later, Alaska Airlines flight 261 slammed into the Pacific Ocean, obliterating the aircraft and instantly killing all 88 people on board. She used to drive a riding lawn mower around their yard, and relax in the family swimming pool. It was really tough there for a while.. The flight, eventually bound for Seattle, crashed off the California coast on Jan. 31, 2000. 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. Furthermore, the pilots were reluctant to believe that the failure was mechanical, rather than electrical, in nature. Naomi Laigo, 53, Fairfield, Calif.A devoted mother of three sons who was a nurse at a clinic in San Leandro, Calif., she grew roses in her spare time. Possibly. Okay, right rudder, right rudder, said Thompson. He was with his wife, Ileana, their 4-month-old daughter, Emily, and his mother and her longtime companion. Coriander Clemetson, 8, SeattleShe was a quiet, poised student at John Hay Elementary School on Queen Anne Hill. As any good crew should do, Thompson and Tansky then pulled out the checklists for a runaway or inoperative stabilizer. The revelations were in a report by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Weve run just about everything. He was a favored friend in the neighborhood where he lived with his wife, Marilyn. Seeking opportunity during the Great Depression, he stowed away on an Alaska-bound steamship hoping to find better times. Mr. Deo immigrated from Fiji with his family when he was young. Lets do that. Thompson attempted to move the stabilizer trim using either the electrical switches, the trim handles, or both, in an effort to clear the jam. All of these factors could have contributed to their decision to troubleshoot a problem that was best left alone. Key safety-related positions within the airlines management structure went unfilled. 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. 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. 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. Federal regulations limit alcohol levels to 0.04 for airplane crew members. WebAlaska Flight 261 Pilots Awarded ALPA Gold Medal Air Line Pilot, March 2001, p. 22 By Chris Dodd, Staff Writer Two Alaska Airlines pilots who fought until their last moments to regain control of their MD-80 despite an inoperative horizontal stabilizer have been honored with ALPAs Gold Medal for Heroism in a special ceremony in Seattle. Only by applying a continuous maximum nose up elevator input on his control column, a task which required enormous physical effort, was Captain Thompson able to maintain level flight. The problem, again, was a lack of redundancy: if the threads on the nut failed, there was no other structure that could absorb the load, and the catastrophic failure of the trim system leading to the loss of the airplane was inevitable. But as the airline began cutting costs over the following decade, one of the areas that got put on the chopping block was maintenance. Almost all of these recommendations were implemented. He was a vice president of business development for Creditland, Inc. It added dozens of new routes, expanded to a large number of new cities, and even added services to Mexico in order to offset the seasonal nature of its flights to Alaska. The stab trim, I think.. January 22, 2016 Examined 9:54 Whats next for For Linious Mac McGee, 1932 marked the beginning of a new way of life, and steady work. We are at twenty three seven, request, uh, Thompson said to the controller. Note: this accident was previously featured in episode 2 of the plane crash series on September 16th, 2017, prior to the series arrival on Medium. But in the end, Alaska all but got away with it. Hes ah, down.. 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. She had gone with her family to Mexico to celebrate the birthday of her mother, Jean Permison. The massive aerodynamic force pushing up on the horizontal stabilizer was normally absorbed by the nut, but with its threads stripped, all that force was transmitted through the mechanical stop instead. All rights reserved. Charles Russell, 65, Scotts Valley, Calif.Mr. But neither of the applicable checklists said anything about landing at the nearest available airport, and by the time they finished the checklists and leveled off at 31,000 feet, minimal effort was required to keep the plane flying level. However, the plane ran into a streak of at least two or three grease applications that were not done correctly, including one in September 1999 by a notorious San Francisco-based mechanic who was later found to have applied virtually no grease to any of the jackscrews he worked on. On the 31st of January 2000, an Alaska Airlines MD-83 bound for San Francisco suddenly plunged from the sky off the coast of California, spiraling downward until it slammed into the Pacific Ocean. A case worker at the Northwest AIDS Foundation, he joined with his partner in a commitment ceremony two years ago at First Baptist Church in Seattle with one of their dogs as the ring-bearer. The night shift subsequently performed the test five more times and measured a wear depth of approximately 0.84mm on each attempt. 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. He opened the mic for the public address system but never managed to get any words out. As such, it is critically important that the jackscrew be kept in good working order, primarily through the liberal application of grease at regular intervals. WebAlaska Flight 261 Pilots Awarded ALPA Gold Medal Air Line Pilot, March 2001, p. 22 By Chris Dodd, Staff Writer Two Alaska Airlines pilots who fought until their last moments to regain control of their MD-80 despite an inoperative horizontal stabilizer have been honored with ALPAs Gold Medal for Heroism in a special ceremony in Seattle. 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. Over the next couple minutes, the pilots found the plane to be reasonably stable at lower speeds. First, pressurized grease was to be injected into a special tube on the nut until it filled all the thread gaps between the nut and the jackscrew and started to bulge out the top. Thompson was traveling with her husband, Morris Thompson, and daughter, Sheryl Thompson. But the measurements were imprecise and repeated tests often produced different results allowing a certain amount of ambiguity as to whether the value was over or under the limit. Federal regulations limit alcohol levels to 0.04 for airplane crew members.Were the bodies of Flight 261 recovered? A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. 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. It 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.
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