Puerto Vallarta - San Francisco - Seattle - Anchorage

On January 31, 2000 at 04:20 PM, Puerto Vallarta - San Francisco - Seattle - Anchorage experienced a crash involving McDonnell Douglas MD-83, operated by Alaska Airlines, with the event recorded near Anacapa Island California.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

88 people were known to be on board, 88 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 83, passenger fatalities: 83, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. On January 31, 2000, about 1621 Pacific standard time, Alaska Airlines, Inc., flight 261, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N963AS, crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, California. The 2 pilots, 3 cabin crewmembers, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces. Flight 261 was operating as a scheduled international passenger flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from Lic Gustavo Diaz Ordaz International Airport, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington, with an intermediate stop planned at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.

Aircraft reference details include registration N963AS, MSN 53077, year of manufacture 1992.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 34.0107°, -119.4246°.