Video: 'Air Crash Investigations Mayday 01x05 Cutting Corners Alaska Airlines Flight 261'

(Monday, January 31, 2000, a few seconds before 4:22 p.m. PST) — A McDonnell Douglas MD-83 jet, operating as Alaska Airlines Flight 261, crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Port Hueneme, California, today following a catastrophic loss of pitch control, killing all 88 people aboard.

Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, to Seattle–Tacoma International Airport with an intermediate stop at San Francisco International Airport.

The subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined that inadequate maintenance led to excessive wear and eventual 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 Trapezoidal nut threads. The thread failure was caused by excessive wear resulting from Alaska Airlines’ insufficient lubrication of the jackscrew assembly.”