U.S. Attorney reopens investigation into Alaska Airlines crash that killed= 88 SEATTLE (AP) =97 Federal authorities have reopened a criminal investigation= =20 into the January 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, the airline's=20 parent company disclosed Wednesday. Alaska Air Group, based in Seattle,=20 made the disclosure in its annual 10-K financial report, filed Wednesday=20 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Officials at the U.S.=20 Attorney's Office did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Flight= =20 261 was headed to San Francisco on Jan. 31, 2000, when it crashed into the= =20 Pacific Ocean off Port Hueneme, Calif., killing all 88 passengers and crew= =20 members. The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco began investigating=20 maintenance practices at the company's Oakland, Calif., base after the=20 crash, but that investigation was put on hold while the National=20 Transportation Safety Board conducted a federal investigation. Almost from the beginning, investigators focused on a lack of grease on the= =20 jet's jackscrew, a tail component that helps move the plane's stabilizer=20 and sets the angle of flight. In December, the NTSB ruled that shoddy=20 maintenance was the reason for a lack of grease, excessive wear and the=20 eventual failure of the jackscrew. Following that ruling, the U.S.=20 Attorney's Office in San Francisco reactivated its investigation "in order= =20 to review it in light of the final NTSB report," the company said in its=20 SEC filing. Alaska Airlines spokesman Jack Walsh declined to comment Wednesday on the=20 reopening of the inquiry. The SEC requires companies to mention legal=20 proceedings that could potentially affect the company's finances. The=20 company is being sued by families of the crash victims. Alaska Air Group=20 said it did not expect the legal proceedings to "materially affect" the=20 company's financial position. Flight 261, an MD-80, had taken off from=20 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with scheduled stops in San Francisco and Seattle. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx 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.tha.gov.tt/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************