He had flown for four decades and worked for Alaska Airlines since 1985. Toxicology results showed that Weimers blood-alcohol was 0.238. The whole episode must have left him a bitter man although unlike most whistleblowers, he did manage to restart his career in the industry. Alaska Airlines flight 261 Technical logs fell through the cracks; critical forms were left incomplete; paperwork was outright falsified to show work done when it was not. Passengers and Crew Members on Alaska Airlines Flight 261 She was a food-and-beverage agent for Alaskas sister airline, Horizon Air. Morris Thompson, 62, Fairbanks, AlaskaAn advocate for Alaska natives, he was celebrating his retirement after 12 years as president of Doyon, Ltd., a multimillion dollar Alaska Native regional corporation. Pilots of nearby planes caught sight of flight 261 and radioed Los Angeles air traffic control. With no grease at all, the rate of wear would increase by a factor of ten or more. Federal regulations limit alcohol levels to 0.04 for airplane crew members. However, the pilots were clearly under pressure to continue on to San Francisco, and maintenance technicians and dispatchers on the ground did not appreciate the direness of the situation. WebOn Flight 261, the nut portion of the jackscrew (located on the horizontal stabilizer) screwed itself off the jackscew. The jackscrew is one of the few components of the MD-80 series that does not have a redundant backup in case of failure. At 15:55, the dispatcher returned with wind speeds, wind directions, and runway conditions at San Francisco and Los Angeles. This was not one of those cases. 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. Alaska Airlines pilot arrested for allegedly flying planes drunk ALASKA AIRLINES flight 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. She used to drive a riding lawn mower around their yard, and relax in the family swimming pool. Robert Gandesbery, 69, Davis, Calif.The husband of Jean Gandesbery, Mr. Gandesbery was retired from a career with child-welfare services. 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. Not according to that its not, said Tansky. FAA employees charged with overseeing safety compliance at Alaska before the crash complained that they did not have sufficient staff to closely track its operations, which doubtlessly contributed to the airlines ability to keep woefully deficient maintenance practices under the radar of the federal government. Nine years after the cost-cutting began, Alaska Airlines was posting profits again, its fleet was expanding, and passenger numbers were higher than ever. Craig Pulanco, 30, SeattleFormerly Craig Gruhl, Mr. Pulanco changed his name to that of his long-time partner, Paul Pulanco. At that moment they effectively were dead. Very dangerous': Alaska Airlines pilot headed By torqueing the screw up and down without turning it, and measuring the amount of play in the system, it was possible to roughly determine the depth of the wear on the nut threads, which the manufacturers guidelines stated must be less than one millimeter. Dr. David Clemetson, 40, SeattleA specialist in infectious diseases, Dr. Clemetson was traveling with his wife, Carolyn Clemetson, and the couples four blended-family children, Coriander, Blake, Miles and Spencer Clemetson. She grew up in Sacramento. When daughter Grace was born two years ago, he started saving Sundays for family. 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. 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. 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. The 2 pilots, 3 cabin crew members, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the airplane He was traveling with his wife, Patty Williams and their friends Bob and Lorna Thorgrimson. I think the stab trim thing is broke, said Thompson. On the basis of these measurements, the shift supervisors overruled Liotines earlier work order and cleared the plane to fly. Quality control fell by the wayside as workers performed tasks they didnt understand, while under pressure to get planes back in service as quickly as possible. Anything more than that and the nut would need to be replaced. How should I dress my baby in 69 degrees? Visit r/admiralcloudberg to read and discuss over 190 similar articles. Alaska Airlines Gabriela Chavez, 33, Puerto Vallarta, MexicoA homemaker, wife and mother of one, Ms. Chavez was flying to San Francisco to visit her sister. What he liked best in life was family, said his longtime medical assistant. Arntson's co-pilot on the two flights remembered seeing the drug tester when the plane landed at John Wayne Airport, according to the complaint. But the mechanism by which Alaska Airlines fell to such a dismal level of safety is not entirely gone. 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. Who is the man on the tail of Alaska Airlines planes? Fuck me, he said. Russell and Permison lived in a retirement community where they were beloved for their lively parties and volunteer work. David Hans Arntson, 60, was arrested Wednesday morning and arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles, according to a Department of Justice news release. In 2014, Arntson flew two Alaska Airlines flights, the first leg from San Diego to Portland, Oregon, followed by a second trip from Portland to Orange County, California, according to the criminal complaint. In some accidents, relatives of those who died can take some small comfort in the possibility that their loved ones never knew what hit them. According to the official maintenance manual, greasing the jackscrew involved three main steps. Who was the pilot of Alaska Airlines Flight 261? View on timesmachine. 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. This is still a search for human life. How should I dress my baby in a 70 degree room at night? Yeah, we tried everything together, said Thompson. The following is a list of some of the victims of Alaska Airlines Flight 261. Join the discussion of this article on Reddit! Before the flight, he told a friend that Weimer, an airline transport pilot, would be at the controls for the short sightseeing trip, according to the NTSB report. Do smaller potatoes take less time to bake. Thompson was an Air Force veteran who had flown for Alaska Airlines for more than 17 years. You did try the suitcase handles and the pickle switches, right? the maintenance technician asked. Alaska Flight 261 Alaska Airlines pilot Cynthia Oti, 43, Oakland, Calif.She was an investment broker who hosted a nightly radio show on investing on KSFO in San Francisco. Gotta get it over again said Thompson. Mr. Marquez was flying home alone while Mr. Rettinger stayed behind for a longer vacation. He was traveling with his cousins, Anjesh Prasad and Avinesh Amit Deo. 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. 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. The trim might be, and then it might be uh, if somethings popped back there. Emily Ost, 4 months, San Bruno, Calif.She was the infant daughter of Ileana and Robert Ost. The Gulf of California stretched out below them, bright and blue. The Piper PA-22-150 left Girdwood at about 4:15 p.m. and crashed 15 minutes later in steep terrain on Goat Mountain, investigators said. A member of Ski Patrol, he was known to friends as Pat. And more than 21 years after the crash of flight 261, it is far from clear that the FAA is any less understaffed than it was when it let safety at Alaska Airlines fall to pieces at the cost of 88 lives. Some did still less, failing even to ensure that grease totally filled the inside of the nut. You have the airplane. 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. Okay, we are inverted, and now we gotta get it. Former owner of a travel business, she was a very giving person, friends said, and was working toward a masters degree in art therapy. LOS ANGELES -- Federal authorities have arrested a former Alaska Airlines captain on federal charges of piloting a plane while intoxicated. Thompson was an Air Force veteran who had flown for Alaska Airlines for more than 17 years. He was traveling with several college friends. Okay, give me sl see, this is a bitch! said Thompson. By nightfall, working with the help of flood lights from squid fishing boats, recovery workers managed to find just seven bodies. All large airplanes have what is referred to as a trimmable horizontal stabilizer. Increasing the interval between lubrications meant that every lubrication had to be done correctly in order to prevent accelerated wear and tear. It was clear that nobody had survived the crash. Uh, if you want to try it, thats ok with me, if not, thats fine. As investigators recovered more and more of the plane from the ocean floor, a troubling picture of the sequence of events began to emerge. Its an outcome that has left many of them bitter to this day. PLANE CRASH, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, Pacific Mrs. Busche grew up near Bow, Skagit County, near Mount Vernon. 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. 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. The NTSB report did not identify a probable cause of the crash. pilot drunk Indeed, the final, terrifying dive was the culmination not just of hours of failed troubleshooting, but of years upon years of negligent maintenance, blatant corruption, and lax federal oversight, a deadly combination that led to an unprecedented failure of the stabilizer trim jackscrew one of the scariest malfunctions any flight crew has ever faced. 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. 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. Uh, its a lot worse than it was? Tansky asked. The crew scrambled to react to the massive upset. Alaska Airlines flight 261 The airline ended up being fined a mere $44,000 for allowing planes to fly 840 times without properly completed maintenance records. You got it? Ryan, who owned a commercial printing business, Copy Cat in Redmond, was an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam. 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 horrific crash killed all 88 people on board and raised troubling questions about one of Americas largest airlines. A Newport Beach airline pilot has been arrested and charged with piloting an Alaska Airlines jet full of passengers while under the influence of alcohol, authorities said Thursday. Jean Permison, 73, Scotts Valley, Calif.The mother of Ileana Ost, she had gone with her family for a long-awaited vacation celebrating her 73rd birthday. Charlene Sipe, 53, BrierTraveling with Harry Stasinos, Ms. Sipe was also a longtime insurance agent. 2023 Cable News Network. First Officer William (Bill) Tansky, 57, had 8,140 total flight hours, including about 8,060 hours as first officer in the MD-80. If youve got any hidden circuit breakers wed love to know about em. Over the next couple minutes the pilots reported to maintenance that electrical current was present when they activated the trim motors, but that the motors nevertheless could not move the stabilizer. I clicked it off, Thompson said. Erickson was a student pilot. Push push push, push the blue side up!, Okay, now lets kick rudder, left rudder, left rudder. 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. The legal limit for operating a commercial plane is a blood alcohol content of 0.10 percent or higher. Those operating commercial vehicles may face criminal penalties and license suspensions. Representatives for Alaska Airlines not immediately return Fox News request for comment. He had treated his cousins, Avinesh Prasad and Avinesh Amit Deo, to a trip to Mexico. Alaska Airlines Pilot Accused of Flying Drunk 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. The report says that at levels above 0.15, individuals may have significant loss of muscle control and major loss of balance. At levels over 0.20, individuals may experience amnesia or blackouts and double vision.. Flight 261 immediately plunged into a near-vertical dive, hurtling downward toward the Pacific Ocean. 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. PLANE CRASH, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, Pacific Ocean Other Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list more. Alaska Airlines Flight 261 Abigail Busche, 25, SeattleRecently hired by Microsoft as a permanent employee, she was traveling with her husband, Ryan Busche. 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. According to court documents, Arntson piloted two Alaska Airlines flights on June 20, 2014. The free-swinging stabilizer rotated up past its stop, slamming back against the aerodynamic fairing that encased the tail. Alaska Airlines Possibly. 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. 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. Alaska Flight 261 Pilots Awarded ALPA Gold Medal He had gone to Mexico with his cousins, Anjesh Prasad and Avinesh Prasad, to celebrate. Joe Knight, 54, MonroePastor and missionary Joe Knight, with his wife, co-pastor and co-missionary, Linda Knight, worked to help starving children and families in Mexico. A Newport Beach airline pilot has been arrested and charged with piloting an Alaska Airlines jet full of passengers while under the influence of alcohol, authorities said Thursday. Kick! he shouted. His mother said he was a sweet, handsome man who loved his job and loved people. 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. Craig Pulanco was working as a flight attendant aboard Flight 261. The 2 pilots, 3 cabin crew members, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the airplane Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. He had planned to spend his retirement trading stocks on the Internet and taking leisurely afternoon walks with his wife of 30 years, Bonnie. So theyre trying to put pressure on you, said Tansky. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Alaska Airlines 261 is a chartered flight operated by Alaska Airlines. Alaska Airlines 261 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. 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. As any good crew should do, Thompson and Tansky then pulled out the checklists for a runaway or inoperative stabilizer. She is also survived by a son, Richard, in the Bay Area. All rights reserved. The single mother of a daughter, Hailey, and an avid fitness buff, she was an attendant with the crew of Flight 261.Looo. Ileana Ost, 30, San Bruno, Calif.She had just returned to work at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter in San Francisco after four months of maternity leave following the birth of her first child, Emily. Let me just try it, Tansky said, offering to take over the strenuous task of holding the plane level. He was traveling with his wife, Barbara Ryan, and their sons, Bradford Patrick Ryan and James Ryan, and five friends of James Ryan. Okay, we had a big bang back there, said the flight attendant. pilot Bermudez was a firefighter who helped save the life of a person trapped inside a burning building in 1988. Who is the girl in the opening scene of flight? 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. Jerri Fosmire, 48, Eugene, Ore.She was returning home early from a family vacation in Puerto Vallarta after suffering a back injury. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. She was traveling with her father, Dr. David Clemetson, her stepmother, Carolyn Clemetson, and their blended family. She was traveling with her former college classmates. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Alaska Flight 261 However, this premise was based on the assumption that one of the threads might separate from the nut due to metal fatigue or improper workmanship, and did not consider the possibility of abnormal wear simultaneously compromising the strength of both threads. 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. For the relatives of the victims, this fact made it all the more important that Alaska Airlines pay for its negligence. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. Ryan Sparks, 20, EnumclawA graduate of Enumclaw High School, Mr. Sparks was traveling with his girlfriend, Meghann Hall, and her friend Rachel Janosik. When the stabilizer moves upward, downforce on the tail decreases, and the nose pitches down; similarly, when the stabilizer moves downward, downforce increases, and the nose pitches up. 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. Clemetson was traveling with her husband, Dr. David Clemetson and their family. Profiles of Alaska Flight 261 victims 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. Legal Statement. At 16:07, flight 261 contacted Alaska Airlines Los Angeles maintenance facility on the radio. Collins said the bodies recovered were those of an infant, two women and a man. Don Shaw, 63, SheltonAffable tour guide, Mr. Shaw was a fixture in the halls of the Legislature. The anger he must have felt is difficult to fathom. It can be interpreted (and alcoholics often reverse the order in their mind) that he therefore feels lost and is drinking and using drugs to run away from that sadness. Charles Russell, 65, Scotts Valley, Calif.Mr. Many of Alaskas maintenance workers received on the job training only without any formal curriculum. 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. The stabilizer is attached to a giant threaded screw, called the jackscrew, which feeds through a nut attached to the aircraft structure inside the tail. McRorys restaurants. Carol Karlsson, 42, Petaluma, Calif.Wife of Karl Karlsson, she was fun-loving and cheerful. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS. The pilots were able to stabilize the plane, inverted, for less than a minute (with a 9pitch towards the ocean). He was with his wife, Ileana, their 4-month-old daughter, Emily, and his mother and her longtime companion. Many workers who greased jackscrews didnt apply additional grease to the screw itself after greasing the nut. Carolyn Clemetson, 31, SeattleMrs. Described as the mother hen of the block, Mrs. Pearson was the block-party organizer and Christmas-party hostess. He also served for a time with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 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. Luque had worked at Taste Catering in San Francisco since 1994. Badly shaken witnesses reported the crash to air traffic control within seconds. She was also accompanied by her longtime companion, Charles Russell. School counselors said she and her friend, Rachel Janosik, were funny, enjoyable, mature young women. 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. Did maintenance errors cause the tragic crash? Capt. The controller granted the block altitude. For two hours, the crew of the ill-fated jet had struggled with a malfunctioning stabilizer, unaware that this critical flight control system had turned into a ticking time bomb counting down toward catastrophic failure. No survivors Erickson indicated that he and the pilot had been drinking alcoholic beverages, investigator Brice Banning wrote. 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.. This article is written without reference to and supersedes the original. As a result, Alaska Airlines slowly increased the interval between jackscrew lubrications from 500 flight hours in 1987 to every eight months (approximately 2,250 flight hours) in 1999. Updated At 16:09, he said, Im gonna click it off. Still, the pilots did not give up; Thompson thought it might be possible to roll out right-side-up using the rudder. Busche was traveling with his wife, Abigail Busche, whom he met when they were students at Western Washington. But airline dispatchers in Seattle were less keen on this idea and preferred that flight 261 continue to San Francisco as scheduled. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Glenn Hatleberg, 65, Eugene, Ore.The husband of Barbara Hatleberg, retired father of three grown children and grandfather of two small girls, Mr. Hatleberg was beloved at his Lutheran church in Eugene, where he served as an usher during services. Four minutes later, a warning light illuminated to inform the crew that the autopilot was unable to move the stabilizer. I think its at the stop, full stop, said Thompson. William Bryant, 45, San FranciscoMr. She played fast-pitch softball in high school and soccer at Bellevue Community College. The couple was considering starting their own insurance agency. pilot Alaska Airlines Pilot Accused of Flying Drunk 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. 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. Described by friends as a soft-spoken, caring person, Ms. Thompson is survived by two sisters. If done correctly, the process took about four hours. 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. Los Angeles controllers gave flight 261 permission to approach the airport, but Thompson asked to stay out over the ocean while they tested the controllability of their airplane. Russel Ing, 28, SeattleA visual-arts graduate who worked in graphic design for Kinkos in Woodinville, Mr. Ing won awards for his photography. 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. 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. Lorna Thorgrimson, 52, PoulsboTraveling with her husband, Robert Thorgrimson, Mrs. Thorgrimson was also accompanied by her close friends, Patty and Bob Williams. Yeah, no, said Thompson. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says, Pittsburgh woman missing for 31 years found alive in Puerto Rico, Alex Murdaugh found guilty of murders of wife and son.
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