Video Alaska Airlines Pilot Accused of Flying Drunk - ABC News Jimmy Carter Kellie Pickler's husband dies Georgia shooting Escaped NYC zoo owl Tesla union launch Alaska Airlines Pilot Accused of Flying Drunk Authorities say 60-year-old David Hans Arnston flew drunk twice in one day. 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. Different speeds and phases of flight require the stabilizer to apply varying amounts of downforce on the tail in order to keep the plane level, and further adjustments must be made to ensure that the pilots dont have to continuously pull up or push down using the elevators in order to climb or descend. (To avoid confusion, from here on out nose up and nose down, as they relate to the pitch of the airplane, will be used to describe the stabilizers direction of motion. Please enter valid email address to continue. Possibly. He moved to San Francisco last year. The pilot of Flight 261, Capt. However, Alaska Airlines maintenance personnel often did it in as little as one hour not because they found a more efficient way, but because they didnt understand the proper procedure and skipped some of the steps. Thompson was traveling with her husband, Morris Thompson, and daughter, Sheryl Thompson. When greased regularly, the nut on the MD-80 series is designed to last for 30,000 flight hours before requiring replacement long enough that most planes will see only two or three different jackscrew nuts during their entire time in service. 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. An airliner cannot truly fly upside down maintaining level flight in such a condition is essentially impossible, and the engines will quickly die but if anyone ever came close, it was Captain Thompson and First Officer Tansky as they heroically tried to save their stricken aircraft, even after all hope was lost. He then flew a plane from Portland, Oregon, to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. pilots Pilots of nearby planes caught sight of flight 261 and radioed Los Angeles air traffic control. Arntson was released on a $25,000 bond and was ordered to appear for an arraignment on February 10. They had run out of altitude. Keep us advised.. 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. The criminal investigation also proved to be a disappointment. The eight-year-old McDonnell Douglas MD-83, registered as N963AS, outwardly seemed to be in good shape. 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. Rachel Janosik, 20, BellevueA graduate of Enumclaw High School, she was traveling with former schoolmates Ryan Sparks and Meghann Hall. But in the end, Alaska all but got away with it. Malcolm Branson, 39, Seward, AlaskaAn oiler for the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system, Mr. Branson was vacationing with his fiancee, Janice Stokes. Patty Williams, 63, Poulsbo, Kitsap CountyMrs. Craig Pulanco was working as a flight attendant aboard Flight 261. 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. William Knudson, 53, SacramentoCo-founder of Inland Business Systems in Sacramento, Mr. Knudson was known for his love of boating and restoring old cars with his partner, Bradley Long. pilot drunk He had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.134 percent and 0.142 percent, according to the DOJ. Holy shit, said Thompson, pulling back hard on the controls. The FAA approved the extension without assessing the effect this would have on individual inspection tasks that were tied to the C-check interval. CNN A former Alaska Airlines pilot plans to plead guilty in California to flying with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit for pilots. Those operating commercial vehicles may face criminal penalties and license suspensions. SkyWest 5154, the MD-80 is one becoming two oclock about ten miles now. The charge of operating a common carrier while under the influence of alcohol or drugs carries a statutory maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. For the next few minutes, they calculated landing weights and center of gravity and other values while controllers in Los Angeles prepared to accommodate them. Alaska Airlines First Officer William Tansky, 57, Alameda, Calif.The co-pilot on Flight 261, he was two years from retirement. He was remembered for being a friendly neighbor and loving owner of two golden retrievers, Casey and Emma, and he loved to play the clarinet. With the stabilizer angled 3.1 degrees toward nose down, more than the design maximum of 2.5 degrees, flight 261 immediately entered a high-speed dive, hurtling downward at more than 6,000 feet per minute. At 16:09, he said, Im gonna click it off. Its on the stop now, its on the stop, Thompson said. He is survived by his wife, Earlene Shaw, who works at the state Senate cafeteria. Very dangerous': Alaska Airlines pilot headed Alaska Airlines 261 Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. But the mechanism by which Alaska Airlines fell to such a dismal level of safety is not entirely gone. David Hans Arntson, 60, was arrested Wednesday morning and arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles, according to a Department of Justice news release. Video of the flight as well as the cockpit voice recorder confirm this. At 15:49, after flying for two hours with a jammed stabilizer, Thompson and Tansky contacted Alaskas Seattle maintenance base for advice. 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. Alaska Airlines Flight 261 That was the last time anyone ever measured the wear on the jackscrew nut on N963AS. CNN A former Alaska Airlines pilot plans to plead guilty in California to flying with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit for pilots. Not according to that its not, said Tansky. Arntson was selected for random drug and alcohol testing by Alaska Airlines at at John Wayne Airport after landing. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. First, pressurized grease was to be injected into a special tube on the nut until it filled all the thread gaps between the nut and the jackscrew and started to bulge out the top. McRorys restaurants. When daughter Grace was born two years ago, he started saving Sundays for family. Did it happen went in reverse? Tansky asked. Its an outcome that has left many of them bitter to this day. Barbara Hatleberg, 64, Eugene, Ore.The wife of Glenn Hatleburg, mother of three and grandmother of two, she was retired but used her skills at accounting and finance to volunteer in the office of her church. All of these factors could have contributed to their decision to troubleshoot a problem that was best left alone. As the NTSB investigation continued, so too did the criminal investigation and the saga of John Liotine. Spencer Clemetson, 6 months, SeattleA peaceful baby, Spencer blended the new Clemetson family, with older sisters Coriander and Blake on his fathers side, and brother Miles on his mothers side. Tom Stockley, 63, SeattleRespected wine columnist for The Seattle Times, Mr. Stockley was traveling with Peggy Stockley, his wife of 40 years. Very dangerous': Alaska Airlines pilot headed Then, additional grease was to be applied to the entire length of the screw, filling all the threads. Jacquelyn Choate, 17, Santa Cruz, Calif.She was returning from a vacation with her father, Toni Choate. In hindsight, the crew should have turned around and immediately landed back in Puerto Vallarta. Robert Thorgrimson, 63, PoulsboA special-education teacher for North Kitsap School District, Mr. Thorgrimson was known as a sincere man who helped save the local chapter of DeMolay, the Masons club for boys. 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. Salt of the earth, said one who knew him. When he measured the wear on the jackscrew nut and found it to be exactly one millimeter (0.040in), he concluded that the nut had reached the end of its service life and issued a work card ordering its replacement. Linda Knight, 51, MonroeLinda Knight, co-pastor and missionary with her husband, Joe Knight, overcame her fear of public speaking by practicing while standing on a stump in her yard. Had it been inspected after 7,200 flight hours instead of 9,550, the excessive wear would have been discovered before the crash. Did maintenance errors cause the tragic crash? Described by friends as a soft-spoken, caring person, Ms. Thompson is survived by two sisters. Alaska Airlines Pilot Accused of Flying Drunk Did maintenance errors cause the tragic crash? He was traveling with William Bryant, his best friend. Yeah, we got it back under control here.. Market data provided by Factset. 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 was part of the Flight 261 crew. 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. The only layer of protection against a catastrophe was therefore the assumption that poorly trained, low-paid maintenance workers would apply enough grease. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. On board the stricken MD-83, the pilots managed to slow the dive somewhat, pulling up from 70 degrees nose down to 28 degrees, but the plane remained inverted, falling upside down toward the rapidly approaching ocean at a high rate of speed. She played fast-pitch softball in high school and soccer at Bellevue Community College. WebAlaska Airlines Flight 261 was a flight from Licenciado Gustavo Daz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, to SeattleTacoma International Airport in Seattle, Washington, United States, with an intermediate stop at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California. An accountant with MPL2.com in Bellevue, he was traveling with the Ryan family and several friends. As flight 261 climbed through 23,400 feet at approximately 13:49 that day, the badly worn threads started to tear away from the nut, wrapping themselves around the jackscrew and causing the stabilizer to jam. Charles Weimer, 31, and three others died in the Aug. 4 crash near Girdwood, a ski town in the municipality of Anchorage. 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. Lets do that. Thompson attempted to move the stabilizer trim using either the electrical switches, the trim handles, or both, in an effort to clear the jam. But this very success may have planted the seeds of the disaster which followed. Ryan Sparks, 20, EnumclawA graduate of Enumclaw High School, Mr. Sparks was traveling with his girlfriend, Meghann Hall, and her friend Rachel Janosik. Still, the pilots did not give up; Thompson thought it might be possible to roll out right-side-up using the rudder. The flight, eventually bound for Seattle, crashed off the California coast on Jan. 31, 2000. Flight 261 immediately plunged into a near-vertical dive, hurtling downward toward the Pacific Ocean. Possibly. William Bryant, 45, San FranciscoMr. Keep in mind that the pitch of the stabilizer itself is actually inverse to the pitch of the airplane.). The free-swinging stabilizer rotated up past its stop, slamming back against the aerodynamic fairing that encased the tail. Technical logs fell through the cracks; critical forms were left incomplete; paperwork was outright falsified to show work done when it was not. Finally, the stabilizer was to be moved repeatedly between full nose up and full nose down so that the nut could spread the grease evenly over the entire jackscrew. Even though the pilots fought for control for a short period, an MD-80 will not Should you poke holes in potatoes before boiling? View on timesmachine. Abigail Busche, 25, SeattleRecently hired by Microsoft as a permanent employee, she was traveling with her husband, Ryan Busche. Captain Thompson argued that conditions would be more suitable for landing at Los Angeles, and the dispatcher admitted that the reason they preferred San Francisco was because a diversion would disrupt flow, worsening mounting delays in Alaskas flight schedule. As far as the pilots were concerned, the electric motors had probably seized and they could fly on to San Francisco without trimming the stabilizer. Stokes had three college-age children, as well as a brother in Seattle and a sister in Alaska. We are at twenty three seven, request, uh, Thompson said to the controller. In 1987, Alaska Airlines greased the stabilizer jackscrews on its MD-80s every 500 flight hours, the value recommended by the manufacturer. Former owner of a travel business, she was a very giving person, friends said, and was working toward a masters degree in art therapy. 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. According to court documents, Arntson piloted two Alaska Airlines flights on June 20, 2014. The pilots consisted of Captain Edward (Ted) Thompson, 53, who had 17,750 flight hours, and had more than 4,000 hours experience flying MD-80s. N963AS, the plane that would later become Alaska Airlines flight 261, was one of many in the airlines fleet that was subject to these marginal maintenance practices. But airline dispatchers in Seattle were less keen on this idea and preferred that flight 261 continue to San Francisco as scheduled. It was the first sign that something was in fact gravely wrong with their airplane. In the ten minutes that had passed since the dive, the stabilizer had been held at 3.1 degrees nose down by nothing more than the mechanical stop on the bottom of the jackscrew. Alaska Flight 261 Federal regulations limit alcohol levels to 0.04 for airplane crew members.Were the bodies of Flight 261 recovered? 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. WebAnswer (1 of 11): If the pilots of Alaska Airlines 261 had known exactly what was wrong, is there anyway they could have salvaged the situation? 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. 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. The 2 pilots, 3 cabin crew members, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the airplane First published on January 21, 2016 / 9:24 PM. We went to full nose down and Im afraid to try it again to see if we can get it to go in the other direction.. Rodney Pearson, 45, SeattleMr. LOS ANGELES -- Federal authorities have arrested a former Alaska Airlines captain on federal charges of piloting a plane while intoxicated. I dont think we should, if it can fly, its like . Born in Hawaii, Mr. Ing grew up on Mercer Island, graduating from Mercer Island High School in 1990. Well see you at the gate. This would be the last transmission between flight 261 and Alaska Airlines maintenance. 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. Robert Gandesbery, 69, Davis, Calif.The husband of Jean Gandesbery, Mr. Gandesbery was retired from a career with child-welfare services. What caused Alaska Airlines 261 to crash? Mechanical stops attached to the jackscrew prevent the stabilizer from moving farther than 2.5 degrees upward or 12.5 degrees downward. N963AS nearly made it anyway its next jackscrew inspection was scheduled for March 2000. The co-pilot also recalled Arntson saying "I bet it's for me.". The revelations were in a report by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Anchorage Daily News reported . Stasinos was a longtime Seattle insurance agent and an active member of the Seattle-area Greek community. Over the next couple minutes, the pilots found the plane to be reasonably stable at lower speeds. Barbara Ryan, 54, RedmondBorn in Alabama, Mrs. Ryan worked in marketing for SmithKline Beecham Cinical Laboratories. appreciated. Rodrigo Laigo, 53, Fairfield, Calif.An engineer for Arco, he was traveling with his wife, Naomi, on one of their many golf vacations. Both Captain Thompson and First Officer Tansky posthumously received the Air Line Pilots Association Gold Medal for Heroism. However, during the 1990s the quality of maintenance at Alaska Airlines began to slip significantly. Who was the pilot of Alaska Airlines Flight 261? Larry Baldridge Jr., 34, Novato, Calif.A businessman with a knack for the Internet, he was working to set up venture-capital business with Michael Schwab, the son of legendary brokerage leader Charles Schwab. Alaska Flight 261 ALASKA AIRLINES flight He was a favored friend in the neighborhood where he lived with his wife, Marilyn. Therefore the interval between jackscrew inspections was effectively increased from 26 to 30 months without the FAA spending a single minute looking into whether or not this was appropriate. Meanwhile, N963AS continued to fly, and maintenance workers continued to grease the jackscrew every eight months. The base confirmed that there werent any known problems with the stabilizer, and the discussion then turned to how to handle the failure. Described as the mother hen of the block, Mrs. Pearson was the block-party organizer and Christmas-party hostess. WebOn Flight 261, the nut portion of the jackscrew (located on the horizontal stabilizer) screwed itself off the jackscew. 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. Also killed was the airplanes owner, Karl Erickson, 55, and David Osborn, 60, both of Girdwood, and Paul Wiley, 37, of Superior, Arizona. On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorneys Office in central California announced that former Alaska Airlines captain David Hans Arnston had been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for piloting an aircraft with over 80 passengers aboard, CBS News reports. He is a resident of Newport Beach, California. After Alaska Airlines received the test results it removed Arntson from all safety-sensitive duties. Whatever we did is no good, dont do that again, said Tansky. As they struggled to regain control, Thompson radioed Los Angeles and said, Center, Alaska two six one, we are in a dive here, and Ive lost control, vertical pitch! An overspeed warning blared in the cockpit. Finally, at 16:19 and 21 seconds, the stop gave way with a faint thump. Join the discussion of this article on Reddit! Following the crash and the damning FAA special inspection report, Alaska Airlines overhauled its maintenance program, including through its compliance with a new FAA airworthiness directive mandating that the jackscrew lubrication interval not exceed 650 flight hours. Alaska Airlines flight 261 Jean Gandesbery, 66, Davis, Calif.An adjunct instructor of writing at the University of San Franciscos Sacramento campus, Ms. Gandesbery just had her childhood memoirs published by Minerva Press in a novel, Seven Mile Lake. She was married to Robert Gandesbery. He retired in 1989, but continued his column, which began in 1973. Stepping on the rudder pedals while upside down was no easy task. No survivors Erickson indicated that he and the pilot had been drinking alcoholic beverages, investigator Brice Banning wrote. According to the plea agreement, both breathalyzer tests performed on Arnston were well above the federal limit of 0.04 percent for pilots, indicating blood alcohol concentrations of 0.134 and 0.142 percent, over three times the legal limit. The main character Whip Whitaker (played by Denzel Washington) has been through a divorce and the estrangement from his son. The Safety Board also examined the design of the jackscrew itself, and found that it probably didnt meet certification standards. Seeking opportunity during the Great Depression, he stowed away on an Alaska-bound steamship hoping to find better times. (Alaska specifically did this every 30 months, or 9,550 flight hours.) 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. Do you poke holes in potatoes when boiling? He was an outgoing, friendly first-grader. Toni Choate, 48, San FranciscoHe had been a general contractor and cabinet finisher in Visalia, Calif., then bought a bar in Santa Clara, Calif. Web19K views 2 years ago. Mr. Sparks was a guard on his schools varsity basketball team, and is remembered as a champion of the underdog who stood up for less-popular classmates. She was a treasured volunteer at a Eugene elementary school. Profiles of Alaska Flight 261 victims In fact, by now there were several other airplanes in the area that were keenly watching the unfolding situation. Her husband, Lee, 41, and children, 5-year-old Barbara and 11-year-old Daniel, stayed behind in Mexico. Average Alaska Airlines Pilot yearly pay in the United States is approximately $186,628, which is 234% above the national average.