McDD MD-83, Alaska Airlines Flight 261

McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N963AS, Alaska Airlines Flight 143, c. January 2000
(“Flight Miniatures” MD-80 in 1/200 scale, ValuJet livery, re-purposed )

Alaska Airlines Flight 261 was an Alaska Airlines flight of a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft that crashed into the Pacific Ocean on January 31, 2000, roughly 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, California. The crash was caused by the catastrophic failure of the horizontal stabilizer trim jackscrew nut, mostly because of poor maintenance. A few minutes after the initial indication of a trim failure, and while the Pilots were troubleshooting, the jackscrew nut completely failed, allowing the stabilizer to rotate beyond the mechanical stop to a fully-deflected 14 degrees of nose-down pitch. The Pilots struggled to regain control as the airplane dived uncontrollably to the sea, trying everything they could think of as the airplane corkscrewed in the fatal dive.

But there was nothing to be done. They had run out of altitude. “Ah, here we go,” said Captain Thompson, uttering the last words captured on the cockpit voice recorder. Less than one second later, Alaska Airlines flight 261 slammed into the Pacific Ocean, obliterating the aircraft and instantly killing all 88 people on board.

May God comfort their families, and may they rest in peace.

The pre-painted kit was a $5.00 find at the IPMS Regional show in Richmond, VA, from a stash of old kits and collectibles. These kits by Flight Miniatures are surprisingly well shaped, if simplified, and look great on the shelf. The kit was broken but complete, but the paint and markings were hopelessly yellowed.

My 5-year old loves, them, too. Because they are snap-fit and have no dangling small bits (e.g. antennae, pitot probes, landing gear, etc.), they make great introduction to airplane models, although I’ve had to make repairs to one or two when he too-vigorously removes the stand or flies the plane into the floor.

The kit was painted with rattlecan grey primer and gloss white, with Tamiya and Mr. Color (MrC) metallics. Decals were scanned and re-sized from a sheet I obtained some time ago at a show.

The kit is a humble tribute to this brave crew and the many souls who lost their lives.