Final Moments of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 Captured in Cockpit Voice Recorder, Reveal Chilling Details

The Alaska 261 Airlines disaster still sends shivers down many people's spines. The 2000 tragedy took the lives of 88 people at one go, stated LAD Bible. Recently, cockpit recordings from the aircraft on that fateful day have gone viral on social media.

In the recording, the pilots in charge on January 31 were narrating the state of the aeroplane. It was evident that the professionals on board were trying their level best to stabilize the situation, but could not evade the impending doom. The recording started with Captain Ted Thompson informing the Control Centre that the aircraft is in a 'dive' here. At one point, he thought that things were under control, but his first officer chimed in by saying that they were still in danger. The official further said that they are "out of 26,000 feet," which implies that the plane, once at 26,000 ft, was now quickly losing altitude. 

Captain Thompson thereafter updated that the plane was in a 'vertical dive.' This implies that the plane is descending in a nose-down position, and could at any point clash with the surface. After some back and forth, Captain Thompson claimed that they were now at 24,000 feet and somewhat "stabilized." To get things back under control, the main pilot asked for some assistance in the form of a "block between twenty and twenty-five."

The control centre started to make arrangements and was also talking to other teams about keeping an eye on Alaska 261. In the words of the operator, the flight was facing some "pretty bad problems" up there. Amidst all of this, the operator lost touch with the pilots of Alaska 261. One of the teams claimed that the plane had suddenly taken a big plunge, again alerting the authorities. They noted that the plane had now gone "inverted," an incredibly hard position to fly an aircraft in. 

The update that no one wanted soon arrived. N50DX shared that the plane had just hit the water. The operator began to arrange for planes nearby, possibly to help in rescue efforts. Though all the officials in the call were professional with their messages, one could note the fear and disappointment that the crash was evoking in the personnel.

All these feelings were also evident in the comment section. @JamesRi34113613 was agitated for the pilots and wrote, "Yeah, can't listen to it again, almost know it off by heart. Those pilots were heroes. Never gave up trying to fly that damaged bird. They both had to pull back on the yoke with 150 lbs of force for all that time...superhuman effort." @Shyam_Krishnaut mourned everyone on board and commented, "Such a heartbreaking tragedy. Those cockpit recordings must be haunting. RIP to all the souls on board."

The flight was carrying eighty-three passengers, two pilots, and three crew members, none of whom survived after the drowning in the Pacific Ocean, according to Ebsco. The pilots cited issues with the horizontal stabilizer, called a jackscrew assembly, as the reason behind the plane's instability. Later investigation also concluded that problems in this machinery led to the disaster.

Both pilots on board, Captain Ted Thompson and First Officer William Tansky, were awarded gold medals for heroism from the Air Line Pilots Association. The pair tried until their last breath to selflessly save the people on board. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the carrier Alaska Airlines accepted responsibility for the disaster, as they did not pay attention to the prior suggestions of experts regarding the equipment malfunction.