Were bodies recovered from Flight 261?

Most of the passengers and crew remain trapped in the wreckage of the airliner that rests some 640 feet deep in the Santa Barbara Channel. Authorities have said that four bodies were recovered shortly after the crash, although other scattered body parts have been found since then; no identifications have been released.



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It had come back from the brink of one nose dive when the fatalsecond descent began, a plunge of 18,000 feet in 75 seconds intothe Pacific Ocean. “Ah, here we go” were pilot Thompson's last words.

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The pilots were able to stabilize the plane, inverted, for less than a minute (with a 9°pitch towards the ocean). Video of the flight as well as the cockpit voice recorder confirm this. While attempting to rotate (barrel roll) the plane upright they ran out of room and impacted the ocean.

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Flight recorder data showed that Flight 261 crashed into the Pacific Ocean at 4:22 p.m., at a speed of more than 200 miles per hour.

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Its settlement with the whistle-blower, John Liotine, calls for him to leave the company by the end of this month. Liotine, contacted at his home in Northern California, confirmed he had reached an agreement that will end his 12-year employment. He said he couldn't comment on the details.

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The logo was changed to an image of a smiling Eskimo, which remains today. Although the exact identity of the Eskimo is unknown, some believe it to be the face of either Chester Seveck, a reindeer herder in Kotzebue, or Oliver Amouak, an Inupiat Eskimo. Both were Alaskan natives.

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All the remaining passengers and flight attendants exited the aircraft in less than 45 seconds. Every flight attendant suffered some injury during the evacuation, ranging from scratches to a dislocated shoulder. Despite extensive air and sea searches, no remains of the nine victims lost in flight were found at sea.

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Pilots have been in contract negotiations with the airline for nearly three years and the two sides are at an impasse. The union says Alaska Airlines did not adequately prepare for a return to air travel after the pandemic and didn't take the necessary steps to retain or attract pilots as demand bounced back.

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The United States' last fatal accident was in 2009, when Colgan Air flight 3407 crashed while flying from Newark to Buffalo, killing everyone onboard.

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