Criminal inquiry in Flight 261 crash

Copyright 2000, The Seattle Times Co.

Federal law-enforcement agents are conducting a criminal investigation into the fatal crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, focusing on the carrier's maintenance practices.

The investigation, which has been under way for several weeks, was confirmed by three sources in two federal agencies who spoke yesterday to The Seattle Times.

No criminal wrongdoing has been established. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and investigators from the federal Department of Transportation's Inspector General have been questioning Alaska employees.

News of the criminal investigation comes as Alaska's maintenance practices are under harsh scrutiny. In related but separate events:

Sixty-four mechanics at Alaska's Seattle maintenance facility have delivered a strongly worded letter to company officials saying they had been "pressured, threatened and intimidated" to cut corners on repairs.

Alaska responded to the letter by placing a top manager on paid leave.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced it will increase its scrutiny of Alaska's maintenance practices.

The criminal investigation is an outgrowth of an inquiry that has been going on for 15 months into practices at Alaska's maintenance facility in Oakland, Calif.

Although the FBI routinely assists the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in plane-crash investigations, it usually plays an advisory role unless there is evidence or suspicion of a crime.

In this case, law-enforcement officials are conducting a separate, parallel investigation.

In a statement last night, Alaska said, "The FBI has been involved in the investigation of Flight 261 since the beginning. We are unaware of any change in their role. However, if there is, we will cooperate fully with them as we are currently with the NTSB and its investigation of this accident."

Federal agents are looking into various maintenance issues, including the discovery that no grease was found on a crucial portion of the jackscrew, which helps control movement of the horizontal stabilizer on the tail.

The stabilizer and jackscrew on the MD-83 are a focus of the NTSB's probe - an entirely separate inquiry into the Jan. 31 crash in which 88 people were killed off the Southern California coast.

In the criminal inquiry, investigators also are examining a 1997 test of the jackscrew of that airplane by Alaska mechanics.

The jackscrew failed a wear test one day and was to be replaced. But the next day, mechanics performed five more tests and the jackscrew was judged to be OK.

Investigators are trying to determine if negligence or reckless practices led to the crash.

"Alaska may have been in compliance with a suggested maintenance schedule," said a federal law-enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The question might be raised as to its sticking to that schedule when common sense may have dictated otherwise."

The source said that, at that point, issues of "willful or reckless disregard" could come into play.

The disclosure of the criminal investigation came as Alaska confirmed receiving the letter from its Seattle mechanics complaining about maintenance irregularities.

The letter was delivered Thursday to John Kelly, chief executive of parent Alaska Air Group, and Bill Ayer, Alaska Airlines' president.

The airline didn't release the letter, but an Alaska employee provided a draft to The Seattle Times.

In it, the mechanics say, "Our consciences constrain us to make you both aware of an ongoing situation on the heavy check which we have heretofore brought before management in the hangar, but our pleadings have gone unheeded and have not stopped the following pattern of behavior."

"Heavy check" refers to an inspection of a key flight-control part.

The letter has stunned the airline, which already has denied wrongdoing in the investigation over alleged maintenance violations at its Oakland hangar. A grand jury in San Francisco is investigating whether Alaska supervisors signed for repairs that weren't done or they weren't authorized to approve.

The letter specifically raises questions about the leadership of Robert Falla, manager of Alaska's Seattle maintenance base.

Falla has been placed on administrative leave, an Alaska official and federal investigators said, but the company's statement didn't name him.

FAA investigators and Alaska officials began jointly interviewing the mechanics, according to company spokesman Greg Witter, after the airline notified the agency of the letter. Alaska also notified federal prosecutors and the NTSB.

The letter refers to ongoing maintenance problems at the hangar. But according to mechanics contacted by The Seattle Times, it was triggered by concerns about a recent repair to the horizontal stabilizer and jackscrew assembly on another Alaska MD-80 jetliner - the same type of plane and parts that are a focus of the investigation into the fatal crash.

Mechanics interviewed by The Times said the MD-80 involved in that repair was properly fixed only after heated discussions between Falla and inspectors.

Spokesman Mitch Barker at the FAA's regional headquarters in Renton said the agency was aware there had been recent "debate" at Alaska's Seattle maintenance facility over a stabilizer repair. He said the plane was ultimately returned to service in proper condition.

In a statement yesterday, Alaska said about 23 mechanics had been interviewed. Alaska and the FAA are conducting the interviews jointly, according to company spokesman Greg Witter.

"The first question for each person interviewed is whether or not they are aware of an aircraft that has been returned to service in an unairworthy or unsafe condition," the statement said.

Witter said the mechanics have not identified any aircraft that were released in an unsafe condition.

"Alaska will take whatever steps are dictated by these interviews, including immediately grounding any aircraft involved, in order that we all may have this assurance of safety," the statement said.

The FAA already had been planning a "special inspection" of the airline, set to begin April 3, FAA spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler said.

"We planned this inspection in response to the accident, but we are now going to include the allegations in this letter," she said. "We'll be looking at every aspect of their oversight and maintenance."

The mechanics' letter alleges that Falla, Alaska's Seattle base maintenance manager, "has directed us to do things specifically contradicting" federal aviation regulations, "not the least of which is his persistent demand that we put unserviceable parts back on the aircraft."

After being placed on leave, Falla drove to his Edmonds home yesterday, where he told a Times reporter, "No aircraft under my authority has ever gone out unairworthy or unsafe."

He also said, "There is nothing I have to hide, and there is nothing Alaska Airlines has to hide."

Falla said he had seen the letter and signatures, but declined further comment and referred the matter to his attorney.

"Robert Falla has never knowingly allowed any aircraft to go into service that was not airworthy or that failed any safety standard," said his attorney, Scott Engelhard. "We expect that he will be fully exonerated by any investigation into the allegations against him."

The letter from the mechanics pointedly refers to the Flight 261 crash.

"Amazingly," the letter says, "in the midst of our grief and shock subsequent to the crash of Flight 261, many amongst us have been pressured, threatened and intimidated by Mr. Falla in the daily performance of our work."

Falla was not working at Alaska Airlines when the stabilizer components on the airplane that crashed were overhauled in September 1997. At the time, the 40-year-old Oregon native was working at Boeing as a quality assurance inspector. He left Boeing in January 1999. Before joining Boeing, Falla was a lead mechanic at B.F. Goodrich Aerospace in Everett.

Mechanics have told The Times that during the recent repair of the other MD-80, Falla told them not to replace worn parts on the plane's elevators. Elevators are flaps at the back of the stabilizer that make the plane climb or descend.

Another dispute arose when the stabilizer dropped, bending part of it, the mechanics said. Maintenance supervisors agreed to make the costly repair only after contacting Boeing, which insisted the work be done, mechanics said.

In their letter, the mechanics questioned Falla's expertise and whether he was capable of "releasing . . . aircraft into service in an airworthy manner."

The letter urges Kelly and Ayer to "personally address this matter immediately for the safety of our passengers, for the future of our operation as well as for our very livelihoods."

The letter was signed by mechanics and inspectors over the past several days, said one mechanic who helped prepare the letter and signed it. It notes that the events since the crash "have taken their toll on all of us."

"We are still grieving each in his own way and here in base maintenance, the effects are incalculable," the letter says. "Let us state from the outset that paramount in our thoughts are the lives of those lost on Flight 261 as well as the flying public who implicitly puts their trust in our abilities as professionals to run a safe operation."

In its statement, Alaska said, "These allegations . . . demanded immediate, decisive and direct action to either confirm and correct any such violations or assure ourselves, the FAA and our customers that such allegations and concerns are unfounded."

In the Oakland case, the FAA, in an administrative inquiry, has proposed a $44,000 fine against Alaska, saying the airline violated federal aviation rules. The FAA also has recommended revoking the mechanic's licenses of three Alaska supervisors. Alaska and the supervisors are appealing.

In a memorandum dated earlier this week, Alaska for the first time mentioned the plane that crashed among the 11 known to be the subject of the criminal investigation in Oakland. The memo directed Alaska employees to refer any inquiries about those planes - from either the FAA or the U.S. attorney's office - to top company officials.

After the memo was publicly disclosed, the airline modified the memo to say that it applied only to the FAA. Employees were urged to cooperate with federal law-enforcement agents.

Steve Miletich's phone message number is 206-464-3302. His e-mail address is smiletich@seattletimes.com