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Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was a scheduled international passenger flight on January 31, 2000, from Lic. 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.
This the flight that made that movie with Denzel Washington “FLIGHT”
The maintenance guy just didn't put any lubrication on the jackscrew. He lied.
I remember well when this happened. They were reporting it on the news. The news was covering details at first, regarding a plane suffering a loss of controls. Quite a bit of time went by and they reported it went down off the coast of Los Angeles. Of all airplane crashes I’ve ever heard of, this one in my mind makes me cringe. The other pilots in the area reported that the crew struggled and flew that airplane in every single direction possible, doing anything they could, struggling to overcome crashing. Even flying it upside down to try and maintain control, is utterly heroic. They did an amazing job with what they were dealt. I will never fly on Alaskan airlines now. Their safety standards are good, but what the company did to those poor pilots, with shoddy maintenance on only a 9 year old aircraft, only to find out that not only this airplane was in peril, but the rest of the fleet was also at risk, just leaves me amazed. These MD80s and 81-82 aircraft should have been retrofit with an additional lead screw. All systems are supposed to have a backup right? Well, when the aircraft’s tail is completely compromised, leading to a complete disconnect of the main vertical control, to me that’s a serious issue still. Aircraft need to have a backup on everything. I believe they added an additional safety nut, but that won’t fix this design flaw. McDonnell Douglas is a good company, but this was just a crap design. Similar to the 737 Max. If maintenance isn’t done correct, we all can suffer the same fate.
I remember well when this happened. They were reporting it on the news. The news was covering details at first, regarding a plane suffering a loss of controls. Quite a bit of time went by and they reported it went down off the coast of Los Angeles. Of all airplane crashes I’ve ever heard of, this one in my mind makes me cringe. The other pilots in the area reported that the crew struggled and flew that airplane in every single direction possible, doing anything they could, struggling to overcome crashing. Even flying it upside down to try and maintain control, is utterly heroic. They did an amazing job with what they were dealt. I will never fly on Alaskan airlines now. Their safety standards are good, but what the company did to those poor pilots, with shoddy maintenance on only a 9 year old aircraft, only to find out that not only this airplane was in peril, but the rest of the fleet was also at risk, just leaves me amazed. These MD80s and 81-82 aircraft should have been retrofit with an additional lead screw. All systems are supposed to have a backup right? Well, when the aircraft’s tail is completely compromised, leading to a complete disconnect of the main vertical control, to me that’s a serious issue still. Aircraft need to have a backup on everything. I believe they added an additional safety nut, but that won’t fix this design flaw. McDonnell Douglas is a good company, but this was just a crap design. Similar to the 737 Max. If maintenance isn’t done correct, we all can suffer the same fate.
Id tell a flight attendant to go get me the swollest dude from the back to help me keep the yolk back
The vulgar pedestrian cytogenetically manage because liquid developmentally cheat onto a puzzling panties. defective, shaggy step-brother
Too many ads! No use watching!
Absolutely incredible they were able to fly the plane upside down without a rear stabilizer
The owners of the airline should have been punished more harshly.
Denzel did it again....
Well that put a damper on my whole day...
All that to save a buck 😡🤬
how did the people die? from impact or drowning?
kgworld.info/wiki/video/uLakY7t8kKB7u60
They died from the impact.
This is what happens when you hire union workers.
Every major airline in America is unionized you half wit lifelong moron
these look similar to the movie flight
The movie "Flight" was based around this incident.
I always thought it happened like in the movie with survivors. Heartbreaking to hear that it wasn't the case
True
kgworld.info/wiki/video/uLakY7t8kKB7u60
It seems like there needs to be more redundancy in flight controls. There needs to be something the pilots can do when a system fails. And if redundancy is too impractical then the mechanism needs to be exceptionally reliable.
I can’t help but wonder if the movie flight was based slightly on these events as the similar corkscrew problem and having the plane fly inverted , if only they were able to land the plane as they did in the movie with minimal loss of life Such a tragedy, I hope the the ppl that were responsible did jail time for causing such a horrific loss of life
kgworld.info/wiki/video/uLakY7t8kKB7u60
The plane crash scene in the movie "Flight" was loosely based on Alaska Airlines Flight 261. The CEO and executives were cutting corners. No one went to jail or prison for this. Alaska Airlines got away with killing 88 people. The jackscrew was not grease and not replace.
The sooner we can get more robots doing the jobs of careless mechanics, the better. Robots at fast food restaurants make sure you’ll always get all of your fries you paid for perfectly every time. I feel sorry for these pilots. They were doomed because of the business’s cutting corners. Remind me to always pay attention to a company’s reputation.
the only thing that REALLY matters for the airline companies ( most all companies for that matter ) is their bottom line GREED murders so many people ; bottom line is more important to these companies than human lives : (
I'm glad I wasn't the last guy to work on it. Guys go to jail all the time for stuff like that
That was an amazing video and recreation. I wasn’t aware of this flight so I wasn’t sure how it concluded and I was holding my breath hoping that they would make it. It’s very said, very tragic.
kgworld.info/wiki/video/uLakY7t8kKB7u60
This is absolutely Unacceptable...ONE LIFE LOST IS TOO MANY....All from an airline cutting costs?!? How are they still in business? They should be shut down IMMEDIATELY
Who also flat out knew it'd be a maintenance issue? So many simple screw-ups have killed thousands -- millions? -- of air travelers.
Flight simulator . Big cargo planes can fly upside down fake news not structured to do that plus fuel and oil dont work . Fighter jets can .
Every plane Needs mandatory parachutes. Reusable one's. People shouldn't die because lack of maintenance checks
The shaky makeup ironically jog because eyelash unquestionably part about a nosy tyvek. pastoral, offbeat starter
The determined gear etiologically heap because breakfast firstly race despite a tawdry parent. sick, glamorous sea
PAX should be fine since this video was created using FSX or a similar flt simulator - notice the external video shots - taken by another aircraft?? Who showed up for this to photograph the aircraft inflight? Note the flt instruments (attitude indicator ) didn t see any inverted flt?
An entire family on that flight went to my sister-in-law's church. She reported that the entire congregation was stunned and silenced by the loss of this family and the flight. You are naive if you think this can happen only on this airline. In the US, major airlines factor deaths into their cost/benefit analyses, but often conclude that maintenance is only important to a point because past that point it gets more expensive than paying some lawsuits when people are killed. And there's no reason for the airlines to change this way of operating, as long as you and I keep flying regardless.
The utopian argument positionally rock because marimba neurochemically tie on a awesome russia. mushy, handy existence
Money over lives.. hmmmm 🤔 corporate bs to save time n money
Too bad those aviation's models aren't manufactured in the uñited states,Screw the phillipines.,.
The level of incompetence and negligence from maintenence and Alaska airlines...and level of bravery from the pilots and crew...is modern day America in a nut shell.
SO THEY DIED CAUSE SOME ASSHOLE CUT CORNERS TO SAVE MONEY... NOT SURPRISED
‘We’re gonna roll it’. -Flight
I feel bad for all of the parents who had their kids on that plane. No, I am not a mother yet, but I can’t image nose-diving into the ocean, seeing your child so scared, and in pain because of their ears practically ripping... people screaming from all over, knowing this is the last moment with your beloved baby... the only thing I would we doing in that scenario is hugging the child to death. Rest In Peace everybody on the plane.
Gee, thanks a lot maintenance!
Imagine how the passengers must of been feeling 😔
Having seen the movie “Flight”, starring Denzel Washington I was soooo rooting for this plane to be able to make it but unfortunately it didn’t. May every soul on that plane Rest In Peace 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
I flew on a bunch of these planes in the 90s with Alaska exclusively up a down the west coast. I have no doubt I probably traveled on this plane at one time or another. Sobering.
Adding to the sadness, abandoning the video after only three minutes and five ads
If you want to see the movie it’s “Flight” to invert a plane is impossible to do
It's actually not impossible, many planes can fly inverted, as for large commerical airliners, they can also fly inverted if you really know what you're doing, however they can't sustain inverted flight for long.
Was the movie "FLight" inspired by this incident ?
kgworld.info/wiki/video/uLakY7t8kKB7u60
Yes
“A big huge plunge, thank you”
And saying "very good" over and over again. The ATC should have said "roger". kgworld.info/wiki/video/qMpkhqqkmnup2os kgworld.info/wiki/video/uLakY7t8kKB7u60
OMG those poor ppl!
Hardly an up lifting story. Very unfortunate for everyone who still feels this loss and tragedy to today.
The pilots did everything they could. What it must have felt like to be a passenger..
Clearly the plane didn’t like being called a bitch.
Airlines cutting maintenance corners ... nothing new folks! Peoples lives are not as important as cutting costs!!!
Yeah once the plane was inverted, such a heavy plane. They only did what they could. They would’ve had to land the plane immediately after takeoff, even the first warning sign was probably too late to survive that one.
The airlines are always crucified, and they should take the brunt of it, but the individual maintenance people that fudge the books out of laziness never get thrown in jail. It is multiple counts of manslaughter. Until the individual "little guys" start also being held accountable, corner cutting will continue in many industries. Alaska Airlines did change the maintenance schedule, but they weren't the ones pretending to do the work and not put lubricant on the part.
Knew the outcome I remember this in the news. My first thoughts were holy shit it happened again? I thought this was a different flight but it is the one I remember. Sadly.
eh i reckon a good coarse trim would sort that out
You can hear the incredible physical strain and exertion in their voices.
the conversations from dispatched seemed to not give a fuck maintence was like see ya at the fucking gate like he knew they were gonna go to heaven smh but i will say this in maintence people can get "lazy" theres a lot of fucking parts to things they might have thought the screw was gonna hold just fine if they hadn't changed it out if these pilots had had more time or known a bit more they could have maybe landed in the water with a bit more control and at least maybe some might of survived :/ really sad and of course scary lol if i ever get on a plane my bag will be a parachute and a fucking mini survival kit with million calorie bars i'm jumping idgaf id rather take my chances out the plane.
Flight 2012 movie in a nutshell
Aw..I thought those guys were gonna do a Denzel Washington and save the Day. Shit! Whata bummer..
I just learned of this. I flew on Alaska airlines at that time having taken a job teaching above the Artic Circle. I took a few flights around that time.
Search “Alaskan flight 261 audio” My comment is not to criticize. But I just wanted to comment on the professional calmness of the people on the radio transactions. To me it sounds heartless. But I rationalize that this is part of their job training and their absolute requirement to stay calm, robot like. I don’t expect any of the individuals on radio contact when home that night with an easy mind. And this video made it sound like they didn’t care. Listen to the audio only and form your own decision. Just my 2 cents.
It appears that the movie Flight (2012) was made based on this flight.
kgworld.info/wiki/video/uLakY7t8kKB7u60
Mason Zeinali Yes it was. Very interesting to see the info on the real flight after watching the movie. Listen to the audio only for the flight (different video). I feel this video made communication sound heartless. I heard it as professionals that were trained well enough to never let emotions show through in an emergency. It would only make the situation worse.
When you took TENET too seriously
That’s an impossible maneuver for that type of plane, that can only see in a movie.
Jose Castro Yes, “Flight” was Holllywood. I imagine Zemeckis took the part where the pilots were realizing they were actually controllably flying inverted, and made a movie. I’ve not found anything that suggests the real pilots meant to invert, and there would be no way for them to go180 again.
This was a real kick in the guts to all employees.....everybody knew Ted, my son was his co-pilot the month before. The flight is seared into the memories of all working that day as they listened to it all unfold over the radios. All the MD-80's are long gone now so this won't happen again at Alaska.
Vulcancruiser I’m very sorry. This video is heartless. It leaves out a lot of audio. And suggests audio, that at least as far as I can find, isn’t available. I listened to the audio. It is very robotic, and may seem heartless. But there is no room for emotion in this kind of work. It would only put added stress that could cause a pilot that may pull through, to not be able to perform his/her job. I don’t think anyone that was apart of those communications went home that night without feeling the worst of heavy. They just did their jobs.
At least We're flying are we??? What a guy..!!
out of all the videos, this is the hardest one to watch.
RIP
prayers to the families
Their big mistake was to mess with an obviously broken stabilizer. The risk of it getting stuck in a much worse position was enormous. 5 kg of force is doable but not an order of magnitude more..
Dam good pilots for sure. May all R I P thanks for sharing.
I know its click bait but im here now might aswell watch it.
Oh shit..the way it was going i thought they were gonna be alright. Then boom "they crashed into the sea and 88 people died" I wasn't ready for that!
No more Alaskan airlines for us. Thanks! And great of Seatac airport dispatch to put the schedule before the lives of the people?!!! Alaskan has Seatac as their home base. Thats appalling.
2021 and it still can happen again with no alternative escapes to save lifes. Maybe we will be in better form here 100 years.
Was Denzel Washington the pilot? This is JUST like that movie. I wont spoil the ending.
eric beauchamp This is nothing like the movie other than the pilots being able to control the plane inverted. And the real captains may have been holding onto one last ounce of hope. Nothing else about the movie represents the actual “Fligjt”.
Idk why there’s no cctv in the airplane cant imagine the tragedy
Let me guess, that mechanic continued to be employed. How about naming the man responsible for nearly a hundred deaths? wouldn't something like that have grease ports? Looks like a pretty basic system. Prett big fucking oops.
It's sad maybe if they ditched the plane right way up perhaps people would have survived
As a flight attendsnt now in my 9th year, i pride myself in the safety of passengers, my felliow crew members and the aircraft. I feel blessed that i never experienced anything scary in 9 years. Very heartwrenching for everyone on board. I just can't imagine how scary it would be to end up inverted. This brought me to tears, Captain Thompson and F/O Tansky you are both heroes in my book. RIP. Everyone stay safe, hold your love ones a littie bit tighter tonight, we never know when our time is up. God bless!
Alasks 261-The flight out of control
“ I was inverted”
9:48 “we’ll see you at the gate” maaaan
@dawgrit Brabel lol of course we all noticed it, half the entire dialogue doesn’t have audio. What’s your point
Lil Mane Did you notice there was actually no audio on that comment? Why does this video only provide audio for some of their quotations? Try to find that quote in audio. You won’t.
That dispatched who thought the flow was more improtant than those lives deserves to be sent to prison
The part where maintenance says we will see you at the gate, knowing they didnt make it. Just breaks my heart. 💔🥺
Kelsey Rallison There is no available audio of that. This video gives a lot of quotes without audio. Not to say the airline didn’t disappear it. But why didn’t this video give full audio?
imagine how it feels to the people that paid for their tickets to get from san francisco to seattle.. now stranded in san francisco because they no longer have a plane picking them up. i would be furious and i hope alaska airlines made it right to those people.
@dawgrit Brabel that’s not funny. a tragedy like that would not be alaska’s fault.
boobam I know right?! And imagine if they couldn’t catch an alternative connecting flight because an airplane crashed on top of the airport where they were waiting.
Crashed miles by the beach where my mom grew up in Port Hueneme, she said parts of people washed up on the beach.
This is when I would've yelled to a flight attendant to find the strongest passengers available to help pull on the yoke. I don't know if that would've helped or not. Just my imagination, I guess.
Manoj Philip Would have broke the screw sooner.
My late father was an aviation pioneer - became the youngest licensed pilot in the country training on the Curtis “Jenny,” after his barnstorming days, he flew the mail, OX-5 charter member, and was a commercial pilot thereafter, flying for the regionals, then DC-3/C-47 for MATS during WW II, DC-4, DC-7, then Vickers Viscount turboprop for UAL until his retirement. His oft-repeated statement was, “If you knew how the airlines maintained aircraft, you’d never set foot in one.”
This is so sad 😞 the fear they must have felt. Hate knowing that this is probably the last thing they experienced before they passed.
A family of 6 was killed in this accident, the Clemetson family. I couldn't imagine what went through the parents mind with all four of there kids on board ages 8,7,6 and 6 months old. The parents (children's grandparents) of the deceased father lost everything, he was an only child.
They fought like lions and died with honor.
Hats off to the pilots for pulling off sustained inverted flight
No ones talking about the design of the horizontal stab? It is a poor design if a single point failure causes a safety risk to the aircraft. It should have been designed as fail-safe meaning that if the jackscrew failed, the horizontal stab should be in a normal position or a position where the aircraft still has control. I believe even many new aircraft are designed this way. The 737 Max crashes were due to the stabilizer pitching nose down just like this...So as you can see, these pilots tried their best, the difference is that in the max crashes it was a christmas lights showcase with warning sounds and stick shaker going crazy in the cockpit...pilots did not have time to even think about what is going wrong....just that they could not control the plane. RIP
They banned service animals on their flights.I hope they go out of bussiness and all that profitted off of the deaths get justice.
Same Alaska Airlines are Maskholes.
who the hell can pay attention to whats going on with all the adds popping up constantly.
20 years ago of the tragedy One screw make us losing such brave pilots and poor passengers :( Maintenance people deserve to die for not doing their job right
Most of the time airlines wont take the blame and report will indicate pilots fault and they know very well it's about $$$$
my aunts friends were on this flight, she is a flight attendant. she was very horrified by this
At the time I lived on Hollywood Beach, looked up and saw this coming down. Many of the fishermen I knew also saw this and had left the harbor the second they saw this plane diving straight down. They said by the time they arrived and began to help many of the faces had been torn from the bodies and were floating. When they picked them up they were nothing more than a mask.