Alaska Airlines Flight 261
US Navy personnel recovering a piece of the aircraft's wreckage | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | January 31, 2000 |
| Summary | Loss of control following jackscrew failure due to improper maintenance |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| N963AS, the aircraft involved in the accident, pictured in October 1999 | |
| 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, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Stopover | San Francisco Int'l. Airport, San Mateo, California, United States |
| Destination | Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, United States |
| Occupants | 88 |
| Passengers | 83 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 88 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington, United States, with an intermediate stop at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California. On January 31, 2000, the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating the flight crashed into the Pacific Ocean roughly 2.7 miles (4.3 km; 2.3 nmi) north of Anacapa Island, California, following a catastrophic loss of pitch control, while attempting to divert to Los Angeles International Airport. The accident killed all 88 on board – two pilots, three cabin crew members, and 83 passengers.
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.