Alaska Airlines Flight 261

The Alaska Airlines Flight 261 best refers to the accident that occurred on January 31, 2000, which is one of maintenance-related failures in aviation.

Description

Alaska Airlines Flight 261, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft, experienced a fatal accident on January 31, 2000, in the Pacific Ocean. The two pilots, three cabin crewmembers, and 83 passengers on board were killed and the aircraft was destroyed.

Causes

The subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that inadequate maintenance led to excessive wear and catastrophic failure of a critical flight control system during flight. The probable cause was stated to be “a loss of airplane pitch control resulting from the in-flight failure of the horizontal stabilizer trim system jackscrew assembly’s acme nut threads. The thread failure was caused by excessive wear resulting from Alaska Airlines insufficient lubrication of the jackscrew assembly.

The stuck horizontal tail hinders operation of the balancing system. Investigators found that the maintenance took only about an hour to complete. In fact, the plane's manufacturer expected the maintenance work to take about four hours to complete, suggesting the mechanic wasn't up to the job.