Cutting Corners

S18 E11: Alaska Airlines Flight 261 takes off from Puerto Vallarta en route to San Francisco. Almost immediately, the pilots realize they’re in trouble; a jammed stabilizer in the plane’s tail is forcing the aircraft’s nose down. It takes all the crew’s strength to manually steer their MD-83 towards LAX for an emergency landing…but they never make it. An investigation into the crash quickly reveals a shocking chain of negligence and error, revealing deeply worrying shortcomings in maintenance and regulation that afflict the airline industry.