Douglas MD-83 accident near Port Hueneme, California, February 1, 2000
On February 1, 2000, a Douglas MD-83, registered N963AS, was destroyed in an accident near Port Hueneme, California (Los Angeles Int'N'L Airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). 88 people were killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
A loss of airplane pitch control resulting from the in-flight failure of the horizontal stabilizer trim system jackscrew assembly's acme nut threads. The thread failure was caused by excessive wear resulting from Alaska Airlines' insufficient lubrication of the jackscrew assembly. Contributing to the accident were Alaska Airlines' extended lubrication interval and the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) approval of that extension, which increased the likelihood that a missed or inadequate lubrication would result in excessive wear of the acme nut threads, and Alaska Airlines' extended end play check interval and the FAA's approval of that extension, which allowed the excessive wear of the acme nut threads to progress to failure without the opportunity for detection. Also contributing to the accident was the absence on the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 of a fail-safe mechanism to prevent the catastrophic effects of total acme nut thread loss.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 1, 2000
- Place
- Port Hueneme, California · Los Angeles Int'N'L Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 88 people were killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Douglas MD-83
- Registration
- N963AS · no longer on the register · serial 53077
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. On January 31, 2000, about 1621 Pacific standard time, Alaska Airlines, Inc., flight 261, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N963AS, crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, California. The 2 pilots, 3 cabin crewmembers, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces. Flight 261 was operating as a scheduled international passenger flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from Lic Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Seattle?Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, with an intermediate stop planned at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 17,750 hours in all; 14,149 in this make and model; 133 in the last 90 days; 52 in the last 30 days; 14,149 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: November 23, 1999
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
Co-pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 8,140 hours in all; 8,060 in this make and model; 142 in the last 90 days; 78 in the last 30 days
- Last flight review: April 25, 1999
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 26,584 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, January 13, 1999; 4,177 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 160,000 lb
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney JT8D-217C (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Alaska Airlines INC
The flight
- Departed from: PVR Puerto Vallarta at 9:37 pm
- Destination: SFO San Francisco CA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 230° at 8 knots
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 16°F (-9°C), dew point 12°F (-11°C)
- Altimeter: 30.17 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 5 | |||
| Passengers | 83 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.