NTSB issues scathing final report on Flight 261 crash SEATTLE (AP) =97 The National Transportation Safety Board's final report on= =20 Alaska Airlines Flight 261 says safety breakdowns that led to the deadly=20 crash were "less coincidence than culture." Alaska needs to reconstitute=20 its will to performance and perfection on the shop floor," board member=20 John Goglia wrote in a 235-page report detailing findings the board=20 approved during a public hearing last month. A separate statement=20 recommends that the Federal Aviation Administration consider taking a new=20 look at Alaska because of continuing concerns about its maintenance=20 programs. All 88 passengers and crew on the MD-83 were killed Jan. 31,=20 2000, when the plane plunged into the Pacific off Southern California. At=20 the December hearings in Washington, D.C., the NTSB announced its finding=20 that shoddy maintenance by the Seattle-based airline was the reason for a=20 lack of grease, excessive wear and eventual failure of the jet's jackscrew= =20 =97 a tail component that helps move the plane's stabilizer and sets the=20 angle of flight. The board also criticized FAA oversight of Alaska, saying the agency should= =20 do a better job monitoring airline maintenance and inspections. In December= =20 2001, federal prosecutors in San Francisco announced they had not found=20 evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the crash. The prosecutors now plan to=20 closely review the NTSB report to see if their own investigation should be= =20 reopened, The Seattle Times reported Saturday, citing unnamed=20 law-enforcement officials. Family members of those killed in the crash are= =20 pressing prosecutors to reopen the case. Alaska did not respond to The=20 Times' request for comment on the final report, issued Friday. On Saturday,= =20 airline spokesman Jack Evans told The Associated Press the company stands=20 by earlier statements that it has overhauled its maintenance operations=20 since the crash, and they are now among the best in the industry. In its final report, issued Friday, the safety board said it still=20 questions the "depth and effectiveness" of Alaska's actions to correct=20 maintenance problems since the Flight 261 crash and "remains concerned=20 about the overall adequacy of Alaska Airlines' maintenance program." "There needs to be an assurance that Alaska Airlines has permanently=20 remedied the recurring maintenance problems we have documented in our=20 exhaustive investigation," wrote Carol Carmody, NTSB chairwoman. "The=20 public expects and deserves no less." Her statement goes on to say the FAA= =20 "should not have to be coaxed by the NTSB into being more proactive, and I= =20 hope we have not served to perpetuate any problems at Alaska Airlines that= =20 the recommended inspection was intended to identify and correct." The board= =20 criticized the FAA for allowing Alaska to extend maintenance intervals for= =20 lubricating and checking wear on the jackscrew assembly without proper=20 analysis, even as the carrier increased its flight hours. The component=20 that failed is a 2-foot-long, 1-1/2 inch-diameter threaded shaft that moves= =20 up and down, raising and lowering the leading edge of the horizontal=20 stabilizer, the winglike structure on the tail that controls the plane's= pitch. Investigators did not find any grease in the jackscrew's acme nut or on=20 working areas of the screw itself. The board said interviews with the=20 Alaska mechanic who performed the last lubrication before the crash, in=20 September 1999, "revealed his lack of knowledge about how to properly=20 perform the procedure." The last major maintenance check of the plane was=20 in September 1997, according to Goglia. During that check, a senior Alaska= =20 mechanic determined the jackscrew should be replaced because it had reached= =20 the highest limit of allowable wear, though automatic replacement was not=20 required. Other mechanics, facing a deadline to complete the check,=20 performed a new wear test and concluded the part was within its wear limit.= =20 Alaska didn't have another jackscrew in stock at the time and never ordered= =20 one in response to the original replacement request. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.atlanticlng.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************