Furthermore, the pilots were reluctant to believe that the failure was mechanical, rather than electrical, in nature. The criminal investigation also proved to be a disappointment. Stokes had three college-age children, as well as a brother in Seattle and a sister in Alaska. Okay, we are inverted, and now we gotta get it. 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. She and her husband preached at The Rock Church Northwest in Monroe, home base for their Full Gospel non-denominational ministry. The Knights, who had recently celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary at the time of the crash, began their ministry with Bible readings in their home in 1978. Carolyn Clemetson, 31, SeattleMrs. Peggy Stockley, 62, SeattleAn animal lover and community activist, Mrs. Stockley was traveling with her husband, Tom Stockley. The base confirmed that there werent any known problems with the stabilizer, and the discussion then turned to how to handle the failure. It went down, it went to full nose down.. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. They had run out of altitude. Thompson was an Air Force veteran who had flown for Alaska Airlines for more than 17 years. Flight 261 was traveling from Puerto Vallarta to San Francisco on Jan. 31, 2000 when a mechanical malfunction inverted the jet and sent it downward off the Ventura County coast. 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. In hindsight, the crew should have turned around and immediately landed back in Puerto Vallarta. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also revoked his pilots license. He was remembered for being a friendly neighbor and loving owner of two golden retrievers, Casey and Emma, and he loved to play the clarinet. Uh, if you want to try it, thats ok with me, if not, thats fine. This may seem strange to make such a change in the cabin based on a superstitious belief. 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. Salvage vessels had to be brought in to raise the rest of the plane from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. 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. Former owner of a travel business, she was a very giving person, friends said, and was working toward a masters degree in art therapy. With the jackscrew completely separated from the nut, aerodynamic forces acting on the stabilizer pushed it up beyond the normal full nose down position, halting only when the mechanical stop on the bottom of the jackscrew slammed into the nut. 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.. LOS ANGELES -- Federal authorities have arrested a former Alaska Airlines captain on federal charges of piloting a plane while intoxicated. In the cockpit, the pilots heard a loud clunk followed by two thumps, and the plane pitched steeply downward. For several months he surreptitiously recorded his bosses violating safety rules and handed the tapes over to FAA investigators. Arntson was released on a $25,000 bond and was ordered to appear for an arraignment on February 10. He won commendations from a booster group for the action. By now the plane had leveled out at about 23,500 feet, after plunging 7,500 feet in 80 seconds. A technician for Alaska Airlines performed two breathalyzer tests that showed Arntson had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.134% and 0.142% well above the federal limit of 0.04% for pilots. Do you poke holes in potatoes when boiling? In the ten minutes that had passed since the dive, the stabilizer had been held at 3.1 degrees nose down by nothing more than the mechanical stop on the bottom of the jackscrew. This was not one of those cases. Don Shaw, 63, SheltonAffable tour guide, Mr. Shaw was a fixture in the halls of the Legislature. 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 logo was changed to an image of a smiling Eskimo, which remains today. 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. PLANE CRASH, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, Pacific Ocean Other Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list more. Patty Williams, 63, Poulsbo, Kitsap CountyMrs. She was a first-grader at Hay Elementary. How long were they stuck in the woods after the plane crash? 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. The state medical examiner found the cause of Weimers death was injuries from the crash but also that alcohol intoxication may be viewed as a factor contributing to death., Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. The single mother of a daughter, Hailey, and an avid fitness buff, she was an attendant with the crew of Flight 261.Looo. 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. Two electric motors spin the jackscrew within the nut, causing the stabilizer to move up or down. Different speeds and phases of flight require the stabilizer to apply varying amounts of downforce on the tail in order to keep the plane level, and further adjustments must be made to ensure that the pilots dont have to continuously pull up or push down using the elevators in order to climb or descend. Possibly. Visit r/admiralcloudberg to read and discuss over 190 similar articles. She used to drive a riding lawn mower around their yard, and relax in the family swimming pool. 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. 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. Toni Choate, 48, San FranciscoHe had been a general contractor and cabinet finisher in Visalia, Calif., then bought a bar in Santa Clara, Calif. 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. A special inspection by the FAA after the accident found further evidence of a massively deficient safety culture at Alaska Airlines. Analyzer of plane crashes. Alaska Airlines had hung him out to dry, and to add insult to injury, his blowing the whistle failed to prevent the crash of flight 261. Hes in sight, hes, uh, definitely out of control, said the SkyWest pilot. He had flown for four decades and worked for Alaska Airlines since 1985. He lived with his mother in Oakland and spent much of his time caring for exotic birds, his koi pond and a garden. According to court documents, Arntson piloted two Alaska Airlines flights on June 20, 2014. Stepping on the rudder pedals while upside down was no easy task. 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. Not according to that its not, said Tansky. There is a long-held belief in many cultures that the number 13 is unlucky. 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. Friends described her as a culture bearer who mastered all she attempted. It was the first sign that something was in fact gravely wrong with their airplane. The tangled remnants of the threads from the nut remained wrapped around the jackscrew, wordlessly telling the story of how the stabilizer failed. In September of 1997, maintenance workers in Oakland performed the aforementioned test on N963AS and found a wear depth of exactly one millimeter. She was part of the Flight 261 crew. He is also survived by a grown son, Fred. The flight departs from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and arrives in Haines, Skip to content Technical logs fell through the cracks; critical forms were left incomplete; paperwork was outright falsified to show work done when it was not. Federal regulations limit alcohol levels to 0.04 for airplane crew members. Meghann Hall, 19, EnumclawA graduate of Enumclaw High School, she had considered a career in sports medicine or coaching. Cynthia Oti, 43, Oakland, Calif.She was an investment broker who hosted a nightly radio show on investing on KSFO in San Francisco. What I want to do is get the nose up, and then let the nose fall through and see if we can stab it when its unloaded. It was his belief that the stabilizer might move nose up if there was no aerodynamic force pushing it upward into the nose down position. The 2 pilots, 3 cabin crew members, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the airplane Alaska Airlines 261 is a chartered flight operated by Alaska Airlines. 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. Uh, its a lot worse than it was? Tansky asked. According to court documents, Arntson piloted two Alaska Airlines flights on June 20, 2014. He was traveling with his wife, Patty Williams and their friends Bob and Lorna Thorgrimson. I need everything picked up and everybody strapped down, he said, cause Im gonna unload the airplane and see if we can gain control of it that way. His intention was to fly at lower speeds where there would be less aerodynamic force pushing up on the stabilizer. 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. Yeah, we are out of 26,000 feet, we are in a vertical dive not a dive yet, but uh, weve lost vertical control of our airplane., However, slowly but surely, Thompson and Tansky started to rein in their excessive speed and flatten out the slope of the dive. Upon deplaning in San Diego, he was randomly selected for drug and alcohol testing by the carrier. Fuck me!. I dont think we should, if it can fly, its like . Push and roll! Thompson shouted, trying to coordinate with Tansky to roll the plane right-side-up. Rodney Pearson, 45, SeattleMr. Mr. Marquez was flying home alone while Mr. Rettinger stayed behind for a longer vacation. The night shift subsequently performed the test five more times and measured a wear depth of approximately 0.84mm on each attempt. Did you encounter any technical issues? Okay, give me sl see, this is a bitch! said Thompson. 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. The result was a chronic problem of Alaska Airlines MD-80s with poorly greased jackscrews. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 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. In 1991, after posting a record loss of $121 million, the companys business analysts concluded that to remain competitive, Alaska Airlines needed to reduce expenses. 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. Monte Donaldson, 31, SeattleA freelance landscaper, his passion was music and filmmaking. Craig Pulanco was working as a flight attendant aboard Flight 261. 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 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. 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. The first flight was from San Diego International Airport to Portland, Oregon. A JetBlue pilot was removed from the cockpit of a flight and taken into custody in the US after having a blood-alcohol level more than four times the federal limit for pilots. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 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. No survivors Erickson indicated that he and the pilot had been drinking alcoholic beverages, investigator Brice Banning wrote. That was the how but the bigger question was why. But the mechanism by which Alaska Airlines fell to such a dismal level of safety is not entirely gone. 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. 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. 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. Thelma Thompson, 56, Fairbanks, AlaskaMrs. Please enter valid email address to continue. Thompson was an Air Force veteran who had flown for Alaska Airlines for more than 17 years. Discovery Company. She was also accompanied by her longtime companion, Charles Russell. For Linious Mac McGee, 1932 marked the beginning of a new way of life, and steady work. 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. Ms. Halls only brother died four years ago of a motorcycle accident. No decision was made at this point about whether or not to divert. 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. A big, huge plunge, thank you, said the controller. 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. Allison Shanks, 33, SeattleThe opportunity to travel lured Ms. Shanks to her job as a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines 12 years ago. Said the friend: Monte will always be an inspiration to stop myself from jumping in the rat race, to take the moment, to take it all in.. N963AS nearly made it anyway its next jackscrew inspection was scheduled for March 2000. Following the crash and the damning FAA special inspection report, Alaska Airlines overhauled its maintenance program, including through its compliance with a new FAA airworthiness directive mandating that the jackscrew lubrication interval not exceed 650 flight hours. He had planned to spend his retirement trading stocks on the Internet and taking leisurely afternoon walks with his wife of 30 years, Bonnie. Over the next couple minutes, the pilots found the plane to be reasonably stable at lower speeds. Representatives for Alaska Airlines not immediately return Fox News request for comment. 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. WebOn Flight 261, the nut portion of the jackscrew (located on the horizontal stabilizer) screwed itself off the jackscew. As any good crew should do, Thompson and Tansky then pulled out the checklists for a runaway or inoperative stabilizer. We are at twenty three seven, request, uh, Thompson said to the controller. Yeah, we got it back under control here.. Also killed was the airplanes owner, Karl Erickson, 55, and David Osborn, 60, both of Girdwood, and Paul Wiley, 37, of Superior, Arizona. 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. Those operating commercial vehicles may face criminal penalties and license suspensions. 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. The 63-year-old aviator, from Newport Beach, Calif.,previously pleaded guilty to the crime in February of this year. For comparison, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, it is illegal for adults to operate motor vehicles with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08 percent or higher in the state of California; that percentage drops to 0.04 percent for those operating commercial vehicles. LOS ANGELES -- Federal authorities have arrested a former Alaska Airlines captain on federal charges of piloting a plane while intoxicated. Joyce Lake, 62, Corte Madera, Calif.She was the top seller at a local real-estate brokerage, an avid community activist and mother of three grown sons. He was traveling with his wife, Barbara Ryan, and their sons, Bradford Patrick Ryan and James Ryan, and five friends of James Ryan. Rescue vessels raced to the crash site three kilometers east of Anacapa Island in the Santa Barbara Channel, hoping to find survivors. With Tom Church, he opened Six Degrees, which he hoped to turn into a chain of high-end neighborhood restaurants. 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. Malcolm Branson, 39, Seward, AlaskaAn oiler for the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system, Mr. Branson was vacationing with his fiancee, Janice Stokes. The pilots, 53-year-old Captain Ted Thompson and 57-year-old First Officer Bill Tansky, could not have known that they were about to play out the final chapter in a sordid story that had been building toward its conclusion for years. 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. 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. Let me just try it, Tansky said, offering to take over the strenuous task of holding the plane level. Russel Ing, 28, SeattleA visual-arts graduate who worked in graphic design for Kinkos in Woodinville, Mr. Ing won awards for his photography. Blake Clemetson, 7, SeattleBlake was Corianders younger sister, the daughter of Dr. David Clemetson and his first wife, Dr. Claire Barnett. Captain Thompson argued that conditions would be more suitable for landing at Los Angeles, and the dispatcher admitted that the reason they preferred San Francisco was because a diversion would disrupt flow, worsening mounting delays in Alaskas flight schedule. Both Captain Thompson and First Officer Tansky posthumously received the Air Line Pilots Association Gold Medal for Heroism. 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. Federal regulations limit alcohol levels to 0.04 for airplane crew members.Were the bodies of Flight 261 recovered? On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorneys Office in central California announced that former Alaska Airlines captain David Hans Arnston had been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for piloting an aircraft with over 80 passengers aboard, CBS News reports. 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. 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. The pilot of Flight 261, Capt. 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. Toxicology results showed that Weimers blood-alcohol was 0.238. He lived in Brier with his partner, Charlene Sipe. No survivors Erickson indicated that he and the pilot had been drinking alcoholic beverages, investigator Brice Banning wrote. He had treated his cousins, Avinesh Prasad and Avinesh Amit Deo, to a trip to Mexico. Did maintenance errors cause the tragic crash? 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.