CRASH INTO OCEAN: PLANE DOWN OFF LOS ANGELES; BODIES FOUND
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. "Radar indicates it fell from 17,000 feet and then was lost from radar," Wilson told KRON-TV in San Francisco.

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

Answers

It's NOT y2k!!

Repeat: " IT IS NOT y2k "

Take care

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

More later on Nightline.....now there is where we will get the Real story!...HeheheHHHHHehenawwannannnnhawwwww...slap my leg and thank my lucky stars!!!!!

-- 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.

There were also reports it was belly up in the water before sinking. My guess would be that if it came off the rader screen at 17000 ft. there probably wasn't a piece that was left big enough to even look like any portion of the belly.

-- John Thomas (cjseed@webtv.net), January 31, 2000.

My guess, the Crouch Echlin Effect caused a buffer overflow similar to the "Your Firmware has expired" problem that plagued one of the regular posters here.

These "fly by wire" type aircraft cannot be trusted...Built in 1992, the avionics of that era is of the proper age for a C E effect. Remember, one of the symptoms is that you lose communication with some peripherals, like perhaps the Trim Tab on the Horizontal Stabilizer.

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ Maybe it didn't ALL go away 31+ days ago .com), January 31, 2000.

Randy, I did not see anything in the article you sited about bodies. Why did you put that in your post?

Unfortunately, NBC said it would be some time before bodies would be found. Now that seemed to be somewhat of a strange comment.

IMHO, one of you is in error.

-- Lurkess (Lurkess@Lurking.Net), January 31, 2000.

sigh...

Current reports indicate that the plane suffered a serious malfunction with the computer controlled stabilizer trim system. Word is (on the news) that this plane, the MD-83, very reliant on that system and that there are manual workarounds and redundant systems in case of problems like this. There is even talk of a complete electronic failure of the system.

This happened perhaps about 60 miles from where I live... Point Mugu apparently tracks aircraft flying 8000 feet and under, there were commercial fishing vessels nearby and oil platforms about 2 miles away. The plane went down within visual range of the shore and a park ranger on a nearby island said he saw the plane or part of the plane floating on the water before it sank. Rescue efforts happened within minutes. I have a feeling much more information will be learned about this crash than most.

The plane is said to have gone down in about 400 to 700 feet of water.

Every station here in L.A. is covering the tragedy.

Mike

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-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 31, 2000.

Is this going to be like Egyptian Air, where bodies don't show up for over a month?

-- sandy (rstyree@overland.net), February 01, 2000.

How close is Point Mugu to Vandenberg?

Aren't there some missile tracking stations on the islands off Point Mugu?

-- warren blim (mr_little@yahoo.com), February 01, 2000.

you don't KNOW that.

-- boop (leafyspurge@hotmail.com), February 01, 2000.

No, I don't. I heard this from a third hand source who knew someone who worked out there 'supposedly' about 10+ years ago. Civilian workers took a boat from Point Mugu to get out there, supposedly.

So, in that case, I would say I don't KNOW.

-- warren blim (mr_little@yahoo.com), February 01, 2000.

I live about 10 miles from Point Mugu, where the Alaska Airlines plane went down. All news channels have live coverage. There's been a lot of discussion as to what type of plane it was. The FAA stated it was a 737. There was a high surf advisory, and a lot of people were on the beach watching the surf and there were eye-witnesses. Bodies have been found......I don't know how many. Initial reports were that the plane was belly up and then sank. The live coverage is showing a lot of debris. It's dark here now, but even so, from the beach where reporters are, you can see lights of the search operation.

-- Linda (lindasue1@earthlink.net), February 01, 2000.

sorry, warren, when i said you don't KNOW that i was responding to george who said this was NOT Y2K related, i guess i delayed a little (a lot, i got interrupted) in getting my entry posted and several other entries were posted before i got mine up there. hehehe

no offense intended. :)

-- boop (leafyspurge@hotmail.com), February 01, 2000.

Point Mugu is south down the coast from Vandenberg.

From the .mil web site:

Point Mugu is the Navy's premier test and evaluation center for Navy weapons. Laboratory and test facilities are collocated with air and sea test range capabilities to provide the option to mix laboratory simulation with actual flight testing. Point Mugu employs a work force of 3,800 people and serves as the hub for a 32,000 square-mile sea test range that is linked with various laboratories and ranges in the southwestern United States. The Point Mugu complex consists of the main base, which includes the Naval Air Weapons Station; Laguna Peak, a 1,500-foot mountain located one-half mile east of the main base: a deep water harbor at nearby Port Hueneme; San Nicolas Island, offshore from Point Mugu; and Santa Cruz Island.

lycos map (ignore the zip, I had to type something in):

map

.mil site:

http://happy.mugu.navy.mil/tt/mission.html

-- warren blim (mr_little@yahoo.com), February 01, 2000.

boop:

none taken :)

-- warren blim (mr_little@yahoo.com), February 01, 2000.

Stabilizers, elevators, rudders, thrusters, just take your pick. These types of systems have malfunctioned on several flights recently because they are controlled by complex electronic control units which are probably loaded with embedded chips.

I'll bet that somebody didn't do the necessary testing that they should have done before they claimed that all of these aircraft were safe. I'd also bet that malfunctions in similar electronic control units are responsible for several of the train crashes and refinery explosions we have seen recently.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), February 01, 2000.

Final guesstimate...Crouch Echlin effect first causes Horizontal Trim Tab to "fail safe" (either up or down, or middle) then followed by loss of other "Peripheral" communications and then...

A dual engine Flameout at 17,000 feet.

Sometimes...Planes DO fall out of the sky!!!

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@ Maybe it didn't ALL go away last month .com), February 01, 2000.