Jet Crashes Off California Coast... Jet Crashes Off California Coast The Associated Press Monday, Jan. 31, 2000; 8:04 p.m. EST

LOS ANGELES  An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 crashed in the Pacific northwest of Los Angeles on Monday, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

Flight 261 from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, was reported down 20 miles northwest of the airport about 3:45 p.m., said Mitch Barker, the FAA regional spokesman in Seattle.

It was not immediately clear whether Los Angeles was the plane's destination.

A large debris field was spotted in the ocean. A Coast Guard helicopter was seen hovering low over the debris.

) Copyright 2000 The Associated Press

-- Randy (warrenr@ionet.net), January 31, 2000

Answers

Monday January 31 8:25 PM ET

Alaska Airlines Plane Crashes Off Calif. Coast

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Reuters) - An Alaska airlines Boeing 737 flight crashed in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast just north of Santa Barbara on Monday night, officials said. It was not immediately known how many people were on board.

The plane can hold up to 150 people and was going nonstop to San Francisco from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

A Coast Guard spokesman said he did not think there were any survivors of the crash because the fuselage of the plane was about 125 feet below the surface of the water and it may be upside down.

A Mexican radio station reported that were 60 people on board. The plane crashed about 20 miles off the coast of Point Mugu near Santa Barbara.

An oil slick and debris could be seen floating on the surface and a National Parks Service spokeswoman said a park ranger on a nearby island saw the plane go down.

====================================== End

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), January 31, 2000.

The Associated Press Monday, Jan. 31, 2000; 8:27 p.m. EST

LOS ANGELES  An Alaska Airlines jet en route to San Francisco from Mexico crashed Monday in the Pacific Ocean after reporting mechanical difficulties.

Flight 261 from Puerto Vallarta was reported down 20 miles northwest of the Los Angeles airport about 3:45 p.m., said Mitch Barker, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

It was unclear how many people were on the plane, which Barker said was a Boeing 737. The capacity of a 737, depending on the model, ranges from 108 to 189 seats.

The jet's crew had reported mechanical difficulties and asked to land at Los Angeles, said Ron Wilson, a spokesman for the San Francisco airport.

A Coast Guard helicopter and small boats scoured a large debris field off Point Mugu as the sun began to set. There were no immediate signs of survivors.

Puerto Vallarta is a resort on Mexico's Pacific coast.

On Sunday, a Kenya Airways flight crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after take off from Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The Airbus 310 carried 10 crew members and 169 passengers. At least 10 people survived.

Last Oct. 31, EgyptAir Flight 990 plummeted into the ocean 60 miles south of the Massachusetts island of Nantucket. All 217 people aboard the Boeing 767 were killed.

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), January 31, 2000.

What does it say about a society that values the life of one relative of a former president more highly than the lives of these poor people?

Think a little, it's good for you.

Truly a sad event.

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), January 31, 2000.

Don't want to get too worked up, but, these are either happening with more regularity or I'm missing something?

Y2K, who knows? Don't like it, neverless!

-- Michael (michaelteever@buffalo.com), January 31, 2000.

Pt Magu is VandenBerg AFB area where all the rockets go up from! What if......??????

-- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), January 31, 2000.

Also if pilot thought very serious would have asked to land at VandenBerg or Santa Barbara I would think.

-- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), January 31, 2000.

Hey Gordon, What did you think about remarks cross-posted below from DD1stLight on Humpty Dumpty? Just curious if you think she is credible.

-- JoseMiami (caris@prodigy.net), January 31, 2000.

Michael, it's NOT y2k! Why do you even suggest it?!

It's just "Statistically High Significant Incidence Of Accidents And Failures Of Unknown Origin Some Months Before And After The Century Date Change Absolutely Unrelated To Y2K"!!

And that spells out a completely different acronym:

"SHSIOAAFOUOSMBAATCDCAUTY2K"

Take Care

-- George (jvilches@sminter.com.ar), January 31, 2000.

Not y2K, however could have been a "TIME SENSITIVE" accident.

-- Notforlong (Fsur@aol.com), January 31, 2000.

Terrible.

-- Hokie (Hokie_@hotmail.com), January 31, 2000.

Just now saw West Coast news.....glad I saw this thread before I posted. Sad, very sad....but dammit....oh it is the stabilizer! Their talking head is explaining the stabilizer...Unreal how they know how it happened just minutes after...hmmmmm

-- Kyle (fordtbonly@aol.com), January 31, 2000.

Not laughing here at all. But, sarcasm mode still in effect. There is that acronym, thanks, George....but it needs condensing.

-- Kyle (fordtbonly@aol.com), January 31, 2000.

George, you better pray that it wasn't Y2K...

But who the hell would ever know anyway????

An interesting observation....

Two weeks ago, during the height of the snowstorm in Minneapolis and Chicago, I was on a NW flight (in Minneapolis). We were on the ground for 1-1/2 hours. Not because of the snow, but because we had a 'critical weight imbalance problem'....

We were in line to take off and the pilot pulled out and taxied back to the gate....

The agent at the gate took 14 passengers off the plane (the flight was full)...

We taxied around the whole terminal (so it seemed) and then the pilot stopped again....

He stated that he was waiting for the computer to 'redo the calculations for proper weight and balance'....

Then, without further ado, we took off (I prayed a whole lot then)

I wouldn't have brought it up, except that one of the survivors of the Nigeria crash stated that the plane seemed 'unbalanced'...

hmmmmmmmmm........

-- Mello1 (Mello1@ix.netcom.com), January 31, 2000.

Pilot had radio a problem with the stabilizer trim... DC80/DC83 have no history of stabilizer problems.

Strange how it nosed down into the water, kind of like flight 880... trim controls go bye-bye, that can be the result... the ranger who saw the flight go into the water says it was upside down when it went into the water..

Those poor people... I remember nearly losing my lunch on a flight back from P.V. a couple of years ago, but that was Aero Mexico...

-- Carl (clilly@goentre.com), January 31, 2000.