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At 15:49, after flying for two hours with a jammed stabilizer, Thompson and Tansky contacted Alaskas Seattle maintenance base for advice. 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. He was coming home with his wife, Carol. A special inspection by the FAA after the accident found further evidence of a massively deficient safety culture at Alaska Airlines. All of these factors could have contributed to their decision to troubleshoot a problem that was best left alone. Okay, we are inverted, and now we gotta get it. 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. She was part of the Flight 261 crew. The outcomes of wrongful death suits against Alaska filed by the victims families are unknown, but it has been reported that the airline eventually settled with the families out of court for a total of at least $300 million, all of which was covered by insurance. I went tab down, right, and it should have come back. Web19K views 2 years ago. Stacy Schuyler, 20, Federal WayA ground-service agent for Horizon Air, Ms. Schuyler was a 1997 graduate of Puyallup High School. 13 months later. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also revoked his pilots license. Stasinos was a longtime Seattle insurance agent and an active member of the Seattle-area Greek community. For the relatives of the victims, this fact made it all the more important that Alaska Airlines pay for its negligence. Ryan Sparks, 20, EnumclawA graduate of Enumclaw High School, Mr. Sparks was traveling with his girlfriend, Meghann Hall, and her friend Rachel Janosik. He had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.134 percent and 0.142 percent, according to the DOJ. Fun stories about food, relationships, the great outdoors and more. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The first flight was from San Diego International Airport to Portland, Oregon. January 21, 2016 / 9:24 PM The stab trim, I think.. All Rights Reserved. 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. Performing maintenance less frequently saved on labor costs and kept the planes in the air longer, thus increasing revenue. A year after the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, lawyers representing families of the victims contend the jet's pilots erred by failing to quickly land the MD-80 when problems first surfaced minutes into the flight. She and her husband preached at The Rock Church Northwest in Monroe, home base for their Full Gospel non-denominational ministry. The revelations were in a report by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Anchorage Daily News reported . 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. Whatever we did is no good, dont do that again, said Tansky. More importantly, investigators felt that the pilots should not have attempted to troubleshoot the problem after exhausting the procedures in the checklist, considering that they didnt know the extent of the damage. And many airlines have responded to this by simply missing row 13 in their seat numbering. WebOn Flight 261, the nut portion of the jackscrew (located on the horizontal stabilizer) screwed itself off the jackscew. But mostly he loved his wife, his grown son, golf and travel. 2023 Cable News Network. I dont know, my adrenalines going, said Thompson. He was with his wife, Ileana, their 4-month-old daughter, Emily, and his mother and her longtime companion. In the cockpit, the pilots heard a loud clunk followed by two thumps, and the plane pitched steeply downward. On board flight 261, Captain Thompson vented to First Officer Tansky: Drives me nuts, he said. It was not designed to handle that kind of pressure, and over those ten minutes, it started to fracture. Deborah Penna, 27, SeattleA fourth-year art student at Cornish College of the Arts, Ms. Penna was a multimedia artist known for her abstract paintings. According to the plea agreement, both breathalyzer tests performed on Arnston were well above the federal limit of 0.04 percent for pilots, indicating blood alcohol concentrations of 0.134 and 0.142 percent, over three times the legal limit. The threads eventually lost up to 90% of their thickness, compared to 22% at the maximum wear depth of one millimeter. Captain Thompson was not happy with this reasoning. She is survived by her mother, Dr. Claire Barnett of Seattle, a family-practice doctor. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bradley Long, 39, SacramentoA successful real estate broker, Mr. Long was flying home from visiting the bed-and-breakfast inn he owned in Puerto Vallarta with his partner, William Knudson. Were slowing here, and were gonna do a little troubleshooting, can you give me a block altitude between twenty and twenty five?. Russel Ing, 28, SeattleA visual-arts graduate who worked in graphic design for Kinkos in Woodinville, Mr. Ing won awards for his photography. Ms. Halls only brother died four years ago of a motorcycle accident. SkyWest 5154, you still got your eyes on him, sir?. / CBS News. She and Monte Donaldson had just bought a home and planned to be married, then honeymoon in Ireland and Bali. Steve Wilkie, 38, San FranciscoThe brand manager of the Levi Strauss Silvertab clothing line, Mr. Wilkie had recently received the companys exalted Koshman Award in recognition for his work on marketing in Europe. 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. Did maintenance errors cause the tragic crash? WebOn Flight 261, the nut portion of the jackscrew (located on the horizontal stabilizer) screwed itself off the jackscew. Linda Knight, 51, MonroeLinda Knight, co-pastor and missionary with her husband, Joe Knight, overcame her fear of public speaking by practicing while standing on a stump in her yard. 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. Permanent License Revocation If the investigators conclude that the pilot was intoxicated prior to a flight, the FAA will typically revoke the pilots license permanently. Keep in mind that the pitch of the stabilizer itself is actually inverse to the pitch of the airplane.). He had treated his cousins, Avinesh Prasad and Avinesh Amit Deo, to a trip to Mexico. Who is the man on the tail of Alaska Airlines planes? 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. Possibly. The 63-year-old aviator, from Newport Beach, Calif.,previously pleaded guilty to the crime in February of this year. 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. Erickson indicated that he and the pilot had been drinking alcoholic beverages, investigator Brice Banning wrote. You got it?. Alaska two sixty one, say again sir, said the controller. Were pretty busy up here working this situation. When he landed in Orange County, he was selected for random drug and alcohol testing, according to a statement from the US Attorneys Office. The free-swinging stabilizer rotated up past its stop, slamming back against the aerodynamic fairing that encased the tail. At 16:07, flight 261 contacted Alaska Airlines Los Angeles maintenance facility on the radio. No survivors from Flight 261 have been found. 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 played fast-pitch softball in high school and soccer at Bellevue Community College. PLANE CRASH, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, Pacific Ocean Other Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list more. 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. Allen Friedmann, 48, Round Lake Beach, Ill.A marathon runner remembered for being a good neighbor in his Chicago suburb, Mr. Friedmann is survived by his wife, a daughter, 16, and a son, 5. He was traveling with his wife, Thelma, and daughter Sheryl. 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. 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. The base confirmed that there werent any known problems with the stabilizer, and the discussion then turned to how to handle the failure. The Gulf of California stretched out below them, bright and blue. James Jay Luque, 40, San FranciscoMr. As flight 261 climbed through 23,400 feet at approximately 13:49 that day, the badly worn threads started to tear away from the nut, wrapping themselves around the jackscrew and causing the stabilizer to jam. Arnston had worked for Alaska Airlines since 1987, along with Jet America prior to its merger with Alaska Airlines, Huish said. Many workers who greased jackscrews didnt apply additional grease to the screw itself after greasing the nut. In hindsight, the crew should have turned around and immediately landed back in Puerto Vallarta. The entire horizontal stabilizer assembly was now attached to the airplane only by the rear hinge. 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. Allison Shanks, 33, SeattleThe opportunity to travel lured Ms. Shanks to her job as a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines 12 years ago. 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. 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. The couple was considering starting their own insurance agency. Thompson was an Air Force veteran who had flown for Alaska Airlines for more than 17 years. It got worse, okay. Violent vibrations shook the airplane. January 22, 2016 Examined 9:54 Whats next for He was traveling with his cousins, Anjesh Prasad and Avinesh Amit Deo. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Still flying inverted, the plane leveled further, to nine degrees nose down. Erickson was a student pilot. She was traveling with her fiance, Malcolm Branson. The seemingly simple task of greasing the jackscrew was not immune to this degradation of the maintenance environment. I really didnt want to hear about flow being the reason youre calling us, he said to the dispatcher, Cause Im concerned about overflying suitable airports., Well we want to do whats safe, said the dispatcher, so if thats what you feel is safe we just want to make sure you have all the info., The pilots asked for information on the runway conditions in San Francisco, and the dispatcher temporarily signed off to go find some.