Series of Real-time EmergencyNet News Reports Concerning the Crash of AlaskaAir Flt. 261, Off the Coast of Point Mugu, California on 31 Jan, 2000

Excerpt from: ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Friday, February 4, 2000-Vol. 4 - 035

PORT HUENEME, CALIFORNIA: With startling speed, investigators have located three key pieces of evidence in the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261: both "black boxes" and the tail control singled out by the pilots before the jet's plunge into the Pacific Ocean. The flight data recorder was recovered from the ocean floor by the Navy on Thursday, not far from where the cockpit voice recorder was found a day earlier. Also spotted was a large piece of the tail, complete with the airline's distinctive logo of a smiling Alaskan native. All were in about 650 feet of water some ten miles from shore.

Excerpt from: ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Thursday, February 3, 2000-Vol. 4 - 034

PORT HUENEME, CALIFORNIA: Alaska Airlines Flight 261 nose-dived into the Pacific Ocean in a deadly corkscrew motion, twisting and turning as it plunged from 17,000 feet, eventually landing upside down just a few miles off the coast of southern California. John Hammerschmidt, who heads the team of investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, said accounts of the last seconds of the MD-83 jetliner en route from the Mexican resort of Puerto Vallarta to San Francisco, had been obtained from three witnesses -- two Skywest airline pilots and the pilot of a private plane who watched as the Alaska Airways jet went down Monday afternoon. One "black-box" has been located and is being reviewed in Washington by NTSB experts.

Excerpt from: ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Wednesday, February 2, 2000-Vol. 4 - 033

CALIFORNIA

Search Continues For Remains Of Airliner

Search boats were still conducting their grim task early Wednesday in the Pacific Ocean looking for remains of Alaska Airlines Flight 261. U.S. Coast Guard and Navy ships combed a debris field ten miles offshore overnight, finding only tiny, twisted pieces of wreckage as they looked for survivors and clues to why the plane nose-dived into the ocean Monday afternoon. Eighty-eight souls were aboard; no survivors have been found in the 59-degree water.

A security zone around the crash site was expanded from eight miles to 22 miles. So far, searchers have found the bodies of a man, two women and an infant among the human remains, pieces of wreckage and personal items scattered across the fuel- soaked water.

The MD-83 jetliner was headed from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco and Seattle. It plunged into the sea after the pilot reported problems with the horizontal stabilizer, a wing-like structure on the tail that controls the pitch of the aircraft's nose. Investigators said they have detected an electronic pinger intended to help locate the planes' two "black boxes" in 700 feet of water.

Excerpted from: ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT-EmergencyNet NEWS Service-Tuesday, February 1, 2000-Vol. 4, No. 032

CALIFORNIA

Airliner Goes Down Into Pacific Ocean; No Survivors Reported

No survivors have been found after an Alaska Airlines jet with 88 souls aboard went down in the Pacific Ocean near Oxnard, California, on Monday afternoon. Aviation investigators are trying to learn what sent the plane plunging into the water. The pilot of the ill-fated plane sought an emergency landing in Los Angeles after reporting problems with equipment designed to keep the plane aloft. The U.S. Coast Guard said that several bodies were recovered from the 58-degree water, but no exact number of victims could be given. The Coast Guard and commercial boats continued to search the debris field ten miles from shore in water from 300 feet to 750 feet deep.

Alaska Airlines Flight 261 from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco and Seattle hit the water 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles International Airport at 1636 PST Monday. The weather was clear at the time. Moments before the crash -- described by a witness as a nose dive -- one of the two pilots radioed that he was having trouble with "stabilizer trim" and asked to be diverted to LAX for an emergency landing.

Radar indicated the plane fell from 17,000 feet. The plane was said to be an MD-83. On MD-80 series airplanes, the horizontal stabilizer looks like a small wing mounted on top of the tail. The stabilizer, which includes panels that pitch the nose up and down, is brought into balance, or "trimmed," from the cockpit. If a plane loses its horizontal stabilizer, there is no way to keep the nose pointed to the proper angle, and the aircraft will begin an uncontrollable dive.

A National Park Service ranger on Anacapa Island, off the coast of Oxnard, saw the airliner go down and was first to report it. The ranger observed the jet going down in the Santa Barbara Channel. From his observation it was nose first.

21:30CST - 31 Jan 2000

Instant Update

AlaskaAir is announcing that the death toll involved in the crash of Flt. 261 may rise from what was previously reported. An AlaskaAir statement (at 18:00PST) says that the flight carried 80 passengers and 5 crew (two pilots and three flight attendants).

Capt. George Wright of the US Coast Guard, in a news conference at this hour, says that an intensive search and rescue mission continues. Wright says that infra-red and night-vision equipped helicopters are working at the crash site and that efforts will continue until all possibilities of rescue have been exhausted. So far unconfirmed reports say that some of the deceased may have been recovered by surface ships working at the scene.

Family members of those believed to be on the stricken aircraft ONLY may call Alaska Airlines for Information at: 1-800-553-5117

20:05CST - 31 Jan 2000

Instant UpDate: AlaskaAir Crash off California

Point Mugu, California (EmergencyNet News) -- Additional details are coming in of the crash of AlaskaAir 261. The doomed plane, now being identified as an "MD-83," was traveling from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco, CA, when it declared a "mechanical problem" and requested a diversion to Los Angeles (LAX) airport. Continuing reports from the scene suggest that the plane then went down approximately 20 miles off the shore, near Point Mugu, CA.

Darkness has fallen at the coast, as numerous Coast Guard ship, aircraft, and private boats are presently searching the area where an oil slick and debris have been found. Reports are now saying that the plane was carrying 65 passengers and five crew members. A search and rescue operation continues at this hour, but no reports of survivors have been received so far from the scene. Additional reports will be forthcoming from EmergencyNet News as details become available...

19:15CST - 31 Jan 2000 - Initial Report

*FLASH* - Alaska Air Jet Reported Down Off California Coast

Oxnard, CA (EmergencyNet News) -- Early and entirely preliminary reports say that Alaska Air Flt. 261, a 737, has crashed into the sea off the coast of Oxnard, California. An oilslick and debris has been seen in the water. Few other official details are presently available and EmergencyNet News is monitoring events in California very closely. We will provide additional reports as circumstances warrant....

The ERRI EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORT is a subscription publication of the EmergencyNet NEWS Service, which is a part of the Chicago-based Emergency Response and Research Institute. This publication specializes in Law Enforcement/Fire/EMS/Disaster and Medical Issues.

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