February 3, 2000
Web posted at: 10:54 p.m. EST (0354 GMT)

In this story: 'Control was suddenly lost' Wreckage too deep for divers Stabilizer problem reported earlier? 'Tumbling, spinning, nose down' RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Search crews Thursday recovered the flight data recorder from Alaska Airlines Flight 261 -- the second of the two so-called black boxes that could yield clues as to what caused the MD-83 to plunge into the ocean, killing all 88 people aboard.

"This is a very important step in this investigation," said John Hammerschmidt of the National Transportation Safety Board, adding that the device was a "critical source of valuable information."

Officials said there was one more important step before human remains or plane wreckage would be lifted from the ocean floor.

"The priority now is to map the debris field -- we really can't do anything logically until we know exactly what's there, what the pattern is and how big it is," said U.S. Navy Capt. Terry Labrecque.

PASSENGER AND CREW LIST Names of those aboard Alaska Airlines Flight 261     FAMILIES INFORMATION NUMBERS 1-800-553-5117 1-877-460-8006 From Mexico: 1-800-252-7522     INTERACTIVE RESOURCES Timeline of recent crashes Image gallery: The crash of Flight 261 Flight 261 background Facts about Alaska Airlines     WEATHER CONDITIONS Point Mugu, CA Oxnard, CA     AUDIO NTSB Chairman Jim Hall describes some of the contents of the cockpit voice recorder 560 K/51 sec. AIFF or WAV sound John Hammerschmidt of the NTSB goes over the 'troubleshooting' stabilizer discussion between Flight 261's pilots and a mechanic in Seattle 525K/49 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    VIDEO CNN's Jim Moret reports on the vital role that private boats and volunteers played in the search for survivors from the Alaska Airlines crash. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Kalin Thomas-Samuel reports on how airlines communicate crash information to the families of victims and the media (February 2) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Charles Feldman reports on the recovery of the flight data recorder from the Alaska Airlines crash. (February 2) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Alaska Airlines crash     TRANSCRIPTS CNN Correspondent Charles Feldman Brendan Murphy, former US Navy Diver CNN Correspondent Carl Rochelle Burden of Proof Transcript: Alaska Airlines Flight 261 Crash Investigation

The finding of the flight data recorder came less than 24 hours after investigators retrieved the cockpit voice recorder from the 700-foot-deep waters of the Santa Barbara Channel. That recorder has since been taken to the NTSB laboratories in Washington for analysis.

The flight data recorder records 48 parameters of the plane, including things such as flight pitch, speed, the position of the stabilizers and whether they were responding to pilot commands.

"We're bringing it right into port and it will go straight to Washington," said Labrecque.

Navy crews had searched through the night for the device, which had separated from its "pinger" or signaling system. It was found 200 feet from the first recorder.

Both devices were recovered by the remote-operated vehicle Scorpio, which was operating from the Kellie Chouest, a 310-foot-long salvage vessel.

The cockpit voice recorder confirms that the pilots struggled to regain control of the aircraft and that it turned upside down before plunging into the Pacific, investigators said Thursday.

"The crew made references to being inverted," NTSB Chairman Jim Hall said in Washington.

His account came from an initial review of the voice recorder, which was found among the debris of the MD-83 on the ocean floor.

The voice recorder "functioned well, the quality of the recording is good and there are slightly more than 30 minutes of data," Hall said.

'Control was suddenly lost'

"As the recording began, the flight crew was discussing an existing problem with the airplane's stabilizer trim," Hall said.

The jet's horizontal stabilizer -- a wing-like structure on the tail -- keeps the plane flying level. A few minutes before the crash, the pilots had radioed that the stabilizer was jammed.

"The airplane's out-of-trim condition became worse as the crew attempted to diagnose or correct the problem," Hall said. "The crew had difficulty controlling the airplane's tendency to pitch nose down. The airplane descended, but the crew was able to (stop) the descent."

"The crew continued troubleshooting and preparing the airplane for (an emergency landing in Los Angeles). Then, control was suddenly lost," the NTSB chairman said. "The crew made references to being inverted, that are consistent with the witness statements to that effect."

Investigators were expected to interview Thursday the two pilots who flew the same MD-83 jet to Mexico before the ill-fated return flight.

More than 100 grieving relatives of crash victims gathered at a Los Angeles hotel where Alaska Airlines and the Red Cross offered grief counseling.

The family members were to be taken by boat Thursday to a Pacific coast viewing area near the crash site, where Coast Guard helicopters were to drop wreaths in memorial. The trip was private with no news media in attendance.

The sand in Oxnard, California, is already the site of makeshift memorials. There are tentative plans for a memorial service on Saturday.

Employees of Alaska Airlines and a sister carrier, Horizon Air, planned to observe a moment of silence Thursday in memory of the victims of Flight 261 at 4:36 p.m. PST, the time the plane crashed on Monday.

Hall said he would be leaving Washington on Thursday, traveling to Los Angeles, to meet with the crash victims' relatives.

Wreckage too deep for divers

The wreckage is well below the 300-foot safety limit for divers -- and most of the bodies are believed pinned in the debris on the bottom of the ocean. Searchers have recovered the remains of only four passengers.

The mapping of the site is being done with both side-scan sonar and video cameras.

"We will assess the information from the flight data recorder along with other information that will enable us to focus on certain parts of the wreckage in terms of what to retrieve," said Capt. Tom Collins of the U.S. Coast Guard.

"We'll be directed by the NTSB to focus on certain structural components that they may need to be brought up first," said Labrecque.

Stabilizer problem reported earlier?

On Wednesday, The Seattle Times reported the plane had horizontal stabilizer problems on its trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the leg before the return flight bound for San Francisco and Seattle.

Airline spokesman Jack Evans in Seattle denied the report: "We stand by what we said earlier this week, which is that we're not aware of any maintenance anomalies with this aircraft."

Hall called on anyone with information about the doomed plane to contact investigators. "They do not need to be going to newspapers ... That is irresponsible behavior," he told CNN Thursday.

Hall said the NTSB is looking into the earlier flight and would interview those pilots Thursday in California. "We will substantiate what occurred on the flight leg previous to the accident flight."

A jammed horizontal stabilizer forced an American Airlines MD-80 to return to Phoenix 20 minutes after it took off for Dallas on Wednesday. The plane is part of the same series of aircraft as the Alaska Airlines MD-83 that crashed.

Hall said it was too soon in the investigations of both incidents to know if there were any "common elements."

'Tumbling, spinning, nose down'

The final moments of the flight were described by investigators as a terrifying plunge into the Pacific Ocean. They said witnesses saw no signs of fire or smoke when the jet hit the water.

As the plane passed over Anacapa Island, just off the coast, a witness heard several popping sounds and watched the jet turn and hit the ocean, said Hammerschmidt.

"The aircraft was twisting, flying erratically, nose rocking," he said at a news conference late Wednesday, citing the witness. He also said pilots in the vicinity described the plane as "tumbling, spinning, nose down, continuous roll, corkscrewing and inverted."

The NTSB, in trying to determine the cause of the crash, will rely on radar data, information from the black boxes and a fuzzy photograph taken from eight miles away to piece together the minutes between the pilots' first report of mechanical problems and the crash.

Correspondents Siobhan Darrow, Greg LaMotte, Don Knapp and Carl Rochelle contributed to this report.

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