Update: AS Flt 261 Cockpit Recorder Transcript Released

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CNN

Alaska Airlines pilots struggled to save plane

Cockpit recorder transcript released

In this story:

The final minutes

All leads to be pursued

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WASHINGTON -- "Whatever we did, it's no good," says first officer William Tansky. "Don't do that again."

"Yeah, no, it went down," replies the pilot, Ted Thompson. "It went full nose down."

"It's a lot worse than it was," says Tansky.

The exchange between the two men was caught on a cockpit voice recorder minutes before Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashed into the Pacific Ocean on January 31, killing the crew and all 88 passengers aboard.

A transcript of the recording's last half hour was issued by government investigators Wednesday at the opening of a public hearing into the crash. It shows the pilots battling to keep the plane in the air.

Twelve minutes before the crash, the situation rapidly deteriorated as the stabilizer went into a full nose-down down position.

The final minutes

The transcript reads in part:

4:11 p.m. and 31 seconds. Tansky: You have the airplane, let me just try it.

4:11:33. Thompson: I don't know, my adrenaline's going ... it was really tough there for a while.

4:11:43. Tansky: Whatever we did, it's no good, don't do that again.

4:11:44. Thompson: Yeah, no, it went down, it went to full nose down.

4:11:48. Tansky: It's a lot worse than it was.

4:11:50. Thompson: Yeah, yeah, we're in much worse shape now.

4:11:59. Thompson: ... I'm thinking, can it go any worse, but it probably can.

4:14:12. On the plane's public address system: Folks, we've had a flight control problem up front here. We're working it. ...

4:17:09. Flight attendant visiting cockpit: OK, we had like a big bang back there....

4:19:36. Sound of extremely loud noise in the cockpit, increase in background noise, sound of loose articles moving around in cockpit.

4:19:43. Tansky: Mayday.

4:19:49. Thompson: Push and roll, push and roll.

4:19:54. Thompson: OK, we are inverted and now we gotta get it.

4:20:03. Thompson: Kick. (Probably referring to the rudder.)

4:20:04. Thompson: Push, push, push, push. (Probably referring to the control stick).

4:20:16. Thompson: OK, now let's kick rudder, left rudder, left rudder.

4:20:18. Tansky: I can't reach it.

4:20:20. Thompson: OK, right rudder.

4:20:25. Thompson: Are we flying? No G's (no feel of gravity). We're flying, were flying.

4:20:38. Thompson: Got to get it over again. At least upside down we were flying.

4:20:54. Thompson: Speed brakes.

4:20:55. Tansky: Got it.

4:20:56. Thompson: Ah, here we go.

4:20:57. End of recording.

All leads to be pursued

The National Transportation Safety Board is holding the four-day hearing to collect information about the crash. Some family members of the crash victims were in attendance Wednesday.

Part of the hearing will focus on the design and maintenance of the jackscrew assembly that controlled the plane's tail stabilizer. A preliminary report from the Naval Air Warfare Center pointed to an improperly lubricated jackscrew as a possible cause of the crash.

But the safety board promised Wednesday to look into every possibility.

"I want to assure (the family members) that the safety board will pursue every lead toward an ultimate solution," board member John Hammerschmidt told the audience.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), December 14, 2000

Answers

"Folks, we've had a flight control problem up front here." Modern planes use the automatic flight control system (AFCS)to fly the aircraft. I think this one statement tells everyone were the problem originated. This is a computer that processes data from the gyros and navigation source such as VOR or NVAV. The AFCS then directs the positioning of the ailerons, stabilizer, rudder and tabs. This is accomplished by hydraulics or electrical signals. Apparently, the pilot was trying to control the aircraft with the buttons on the AFCS and it was making the situation worse. I believe somewhere in this awful scenario, the pilots took control of the plane manually. "We are inverted and now we gotta get it" The plane was flying belly up. The plane appears to invert more than once "got to get it over again". But, I can not tell if the AFCS inverted the plane and the pilots righted the plane manually or after they took control, the pilots inverted the aircraft. "Increase in background noise .... loose articles in cockpit". It is not uncommon for pilots to become disoriented and invert their planes. A 747 or 737, I can not remember which, crashed about 5 years ago because the pilot was disoriented and inverted the plane. The accident happened because the plane had (2) gyros which were reading differently and he could not reckon whether he was up or down. This accident could have been avoided if the pilot had remembered that the plane is equipped with a third gyro and is used as a reference to check the other two. "Are we flying?" The pilots of flight 261 righted the plane but now are in a spin. I believe they kicked the rudder to recover from the spin. I can not understand why he applied the speed brakes to slow down. The speed brakes are the control surfaces on top of the wing that passengers see raise when the plane touches down but they can be used in flight to slow the plane. These poor souls worked hard to save this plane but to no avail.

-- David Williams (DAVIDWILL@prodigy.net), December 16, 2000.

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