Alaska and Horizon Air plane crashes

The following are significant events involving the airline or its subsidiares. The numbered events are those involving at least one passenger death where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role, and where at least one of the dead passengers was not a stowaway, hijacker, or saboteur. Only events since 1970 are included.

1. 4 September 1971; Alaska Airlines 727-100; N2969G; flight 1866; near Juneau, AK: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Yakutat, AK, to Juneau, AK, and was inbound for landing when it flew into the slopes of a mountain about 28 miles (30 km) west of the airfield. The crew had received misleading navigational information for reasons that were not determined, and based on that information had prematurely descended below obstacle clearance altitude. All seven crew members and 104 passengers were killed.
   NTSB final report
   Boeing 727 plane crashes

2. 5 April 1976; Alaska Airlines 727-81; N124AS; flight 60; Ketchikan, AK: The aircraft touched down at about 145 knots and with a tailwind of about three knots, and the crew attempted to execute a go-around maneuver. The crew was unable to disengage the thrust reversers, and was unable to stay on the runway, overran the runway ending up in a ravine about 700 feet beyond the end of the runway. All seven crew members survived, but one of the 50 passengers was killed.
   NTSB final report
   Boeing 727 plane crashes
   
   19 June 1987; Horizon Air Dash 8; N813PH ; Seattle, WA: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Seattle, WA to Portland, OR. The right engine exploded lost power during initial climb at about 800 feet above the ground. The crew shut down the engine, extinguished the fire, and landed. The explosion and fire was caused by a leaking fuel line associated with the high pressure fuel control unit None of the four crew members or 37 passengers were killed.
   NTSB accident brief
   Other Bombardier Dash 8 Events
   
   15 April 1988; Horizon Air Dash 8; N819PH; flight 2658; Seattle, WA: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic flight from Seattle, WA to Spokane, WA. The crew executed an air turn back after the right engine lost power during climbout. The crew noticed a right engine fire after lowering the landing gear. Fire damage to the hydraulic system led to a loss of control of the aircraft after landing. The aircraft departed the runway and struck ground equipment and two jetways. The aircraft was subsequently destroyed by fire. None of the three crew members and 37 passengers were killed, but four passengers were seriously injured.
   
   The NTSB concluded that the fuel leak that led to the subsequent fire in the right engine nacelle was due to improper installation of the high pressure fuel filter cover, a problem that occurred during an engine overhaul and that was not discovered by the airline when the engine was installed.
   NTSB accident brief
   Bombardier Dash 8 plane crashes

3. 31 January 2000; Alaska Airlines MD83; near Pt. Mugu, CA: The aircraft was on a scheduled international flight from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to San Francisco, CA. The crew experienced a horizontal stabilizer trim problem while en route, and diverted toward LAX airport in Los Angeles, CA. The horizontal stabilizer trim system failed, started a rapid descent from about 17,000 feet, and crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of the LAX airport. All 83 passengers and five crew members were killed.
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   MD 80 plane crashes
   
   10 August 2018; Horizon Air Dash 8-402Q; N449QX; near Seattle, WA The aircraft was taken on an unauthorized flight by Richard Russell, a ground service operator with the airline who not certified as a pilot, and did not have authorization to be in the aircraft. After departing from Seatac Airport, Russell flew the aircraft for about 75 minutes in an area south of Seattle, performing number of extreme maneuvers, before crashing on an island in Puget Sound about 40 kilometers south of the departure airport. Russell, the sole occupant of the aircraft, was killed.
   Crashes caused by airline insiders
   Dash 8 plane crashes
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Airline Fleet
Alaska Airlines
Horizon Air