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Alaska Crash Investigation Re-opened

Mar 13, 2003

A criminal investigation has been re-opened into the fatal crash of an Alaska Airlines passenger jet three years ago, the company has revealed.

The crash, which killed 88 people on board Flight 261, became part of an earlier investigation into some of the Seattle-based airline's maintenance practises.

The investigation was suspended by the US Attorney for Northern California pending a National Transportation Safety Board inquiry into the cause of the crash. Now, the airline's annual report, filed this week with the SEC, says that the investigation has been re-instated.

When the NTSB findings into the Flight 261 accident were published they cited poor lubrication of a jackscrew in the aircraft's tail, together with inadequate maintenance, as the causes. The company report says that prosecutors have re-opened the case in light of the NTSB findings.

Alaska, which also revealed it has settled 48 claims by Flight 261 crash victim families, said in its report that it does not expect the renewed legal proceedings to affect its financial position.


http://news.airwise.com/index.html