Alaska Flight 261 Flight Simulator Recreation

R.I.P.

Alaska 261 departed from Puerto Vallarta at 1:37 p.m. PST, and climbed to its intended cruising altitude of flight level 310 (31,000 ft). Approximately 2 hours into the flight, the flight crew, consisting of captain Ted Thompson and first officer William "Bill" Tansky, first contacted the airline's dispatch and maintenance control facilities in SeaTac, Washington, and on a shared company radio with operations and maintenance facilities at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) discussed a jammed horizontal stabilizer and a possible diversion to LAX. The jammed stabilizer prevented operation of the trim system, which normally would make slight adjustments to the flight control surfaces to keep the plane stable in flight. At their cruising altitude and speed the position of the jammed stabilizer required the pilots to pull on their controls with approximately 10 pounds (44N) of force to keep level. Neither the flight crew, nor company maintenance, were able to determine the cause of the jam. Repeated attempts to overcome the jam with the primary and alternate trim systems were unsuccessful.

During this time the flight crew had several discussions with the company dispatcher about whether to divert to Los Angeles, or continue on as planned to San Francisco. Ultimately the pilots chose to divert. Later the NTSB found that while "the flight crew's decision to divert the flight to Los Angeles...was prudent and appropriate", nonetheless "Alaska Airlines dispatch personnel appear to have attempted to influence the flight crew to continue to San Francisco...instead of diverting to Los Angeles." Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) transcripts indicate that the dispatcher was concerned about the effect on the schedule ("flow") should the flight divert.


Final flight path of Alaska 261[edit] First dive and recovery
At 4:09 p.m., the flight crew was able to unjam the horizontal stabilizer with the primary trim system, however, upon being freed, it quickly moved to an extreme "nose-down" position, forcing the aircraft into a dive. Alaska 261 went from about 31,500 feet to between 23,000 and 24,000 feet in around 80 seconds. Both pilots struggled together to regain control of the aircraft, and only by exerting a pulling force of 130 to 140 pounds (59.1 to 63.6 kg) on the controls were the flight crew able to arrest the 6,000 foot-per minute descent of the aircraft and stabilize themselves at approximately 24,400 feet.

Alaska 261 informed Air Traffic Control (ATC) of their control problems. After the flight crew stated their intention to land at LAX, ATC inquired if they wanted to proceed to a lower altitude in preparation for approach. The captain replied: "I need to get down to about ten, change my configuration, make sure I can control the jet and I'd like to do that out here over the bay if I may." Later, during the public hearings into the accident, the request by the pilot not to overfly populated areas was specifically commended by NTSB board members. During this time the flight crew considered, and rejected, any further attempts to correct the runaway trim. They proceeded to descend to a lower altitude and start to configure the aircraft for landing at LAX.

Beginning at 4:19 p.m., the CVR recorded the sounds of at least four distinct "thumps", followed 17 seconds later by an "extremely loud noise". The aircraft rapidly pitched over into a dive. Several aircraft in the vicinity had been alerted by ATC to maintain visual contact with the stricken jet and they immediately contacted the controller. One pilot radioed "that plane has just started to do a big huge plunge,"; another reported, "Yes sir, ah, I concur he is, uh, definitely in a nose down, uh, position descending quite rapidly." ATC then tried to contact Alaska 261. The crew of a Skywest airliner reported "He's, uh, definitely out of control" Although the CVR captured the co-pilot saying "Mayday", no radio communications were received from the flight crew during the final event.

The CVR transcript shows the pilots' continuous attempts for the duration of the dive to regain control of the aircraft. At one point, unable to raise the nose, they attempted to fly the aircraft "upside-down".However the aircraft was beyond recovery; it descended inverted and nose-down about 18,000 feet for 81 seconds, a descent rate exceeding 13,300 feet per minute before hitting the ocean at high speed. At this time, pilots from aircraft flying in the same area reported in, with one SkyWest Airlines pilot saying, "and he's just hit the water," meaning the plane had plunged into the ocean. Another reported, "Yeah sir, he, uh, he, uh, hit the water, he's, uh, down." Everyone on board died when the plane struck the water, and the aircraft was destroyed upon impact.