What is Alaska Airlines Flight 261?
'''Alaska Airlines Flight 261''' was an international passenger flight from [[Puerto Vallarta]] to a stopover in [[San Francisco International Airport]], to its destination in [[Seattle–Tacoma International Airport]]. The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft was carrying 83 passengers and 5 crew members aboard. It suffered a serious mechanical failure caused by a jackscrew on January 31, 2000, while flying over the [[Pacific Ocean]], and crashed into 4.3 km north of Anacapa Island in [[California]]. There were no survivors. {{Infobox aircraft occurrence | name = Alaska Airlines Flight 261 | image = Alaska Airlines MD-83 N963AS Santa Ana 15-09-92 (cropped).jpg | image_size = 250 | image_upright = | alt = the accident Alaska Airlines MD-83 | caption = N963AS, the Alaska Airlines MD-83<br /> aircraft involved in the accident | occurrence_type = Accident | date = {{start-date|January 31, 2000}} | summary = Loss of control caused by [[jackscrew]] failure due to improper maintenance | site = [[Pacific Ocean]]<br />near Anacapa Island, California, U.S. | coordinates = {{Coord|34|03.5|N|119|20.8|W|type:event_region:US-CA|display=inline,title}} | aircraft_type = [[McDonnell Douglas MD-80|McDonnell Douglas MD-83]] | aircraft_name = | operator = [[Alaska Airlines]] | tail_number = N963AS | origin = [[Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport]] | stopover = [[San Francisco International Airport|San Francisco Int'l Airport]] | stopover0 = | last_stopover = | destination = [[Seattle–Tacoma International Airport|Seattle–Tacoma Int'l Airport]] | passengers = 83 | crew = 5 | fatalities = 88 | injuries = | missing = | survivors = 0 | IATA = AS261 | ICAO = ASA261 | callsign = ALASKA 261 | occupants = 88 }}Flight 261 left Puerto Vallarta at 14:30 PST. While en-route to [[San Francisco]], the crew became aware of a [[horizontal stabilizer]] jam and kept Alaska Airlines maintenance informed of the issue while airborne at FL310. Captain Tansky tried a solution to unjam the stabilizer. The stabilizer unjammed and the aircra