An Alaska Airlines jet landing at the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif. suffered heavy damage late Sunday night in the middle of Hurricane Hilary’s simultaneous arrival in Southern California.
Flight 1288 from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was operated with a Boeing 737-800, which “experienced an issue soon after landing … and was unable to taxi to the gate due to an issue with its landing gear.”
Six crew and 106 passengers were onboard, but there were no injuries reported.
A passenger posted video of the hard landing, which shows sparks flying past the window. Other photos were posted on social media that showed the port side engine resting on the taxiway, shown in the photos above.
The jet’s tail number is N516AS. It has been flown for Alaska Airlines since the company bought it in December 2008.
“Photos posted on social media by the Orange County Fire Authority indicate the MLG [main landing gear] mount broke through the upper wing skin,” according to the Aviation Safety Network website.
Maybe there was a Christian on that plane prays before, during, and after their plane ride like I do when I must ride a plane, since I prefer not flying- I like boats. At least a ferry has lifeboats. Planes don’t equip passengers with a parachute. Anyway that look like a pretty good (controlled) landing despite its unpredictably state like a prayer from a passenger or someone was praying for a passenger.
Maybe there was a Buddhist, or a Muslim or a Pastafarian on that plane who prayed to their God instead. Perhaps it was good reactions and training by the pilots and not an act of God that prevented a more serious incident with the plane?
Why do you constantly bring religion into every story?
If the Christian God is so good and will answer a prayer for a safe landing, why wont he answer a prayer for a child with brain cancer to be cured? Seems kinda strange he would answer one but not the other
Pablo, you apparently aren’t familiar with Jen. She lives in a constant state of Rapture.
“The woman who prays is the one who thinks that god has arranged matters all wrong, but who also thinks that she can instruct god how to put them right.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Mortality
Oh I am familiar with her constant Christian screed. I don’t care that you practice any religion, I just don’t want it forced upon me or anyone else.
It just amazes me that someone who advocates for more reading rarely posts a comment without run-on sentences that lack an actual point that is germane to the story.
Show us on the doll where Jen “forced” anything on you poor little snowflake. You cry like a baby because she has a deep and abiding faith? I’ll bet you can’t wait to virtue signal and browbeat maskless people again. Especially Christians. What a hypocrite.
Haha, thanks for the response FreedomAK.
So many people on these forums get so upset, Jen included, when LGBTQ+ people “shove their lifestyle” in our faces.
Why can’t I express the same sentiment about Jen constantly preaching at us all because we don’t subscribe to her exact version of faith?
I hated wearing the masks and never said a word to anyone who wouldn’t wear one. My body my choice, am I right?
Your name on this site is “FreedomAK” but are fine with Jen and other’s constantly browbeating everyone who is not a follower of Christ.
If you want to subscribe by Christian faith, more power to you. But that does not give you the right to force your beliefs on anyone else. The same goes for any religion or atheist person. Live your own life and leave the rest of us alone. The same way I will let someone live their life as they want so long as it does not affect mine.
There is only one God. He just has been given different names.
Maybe there were trained pilots with superior technology who knew how to respond to emergencies.
Only those truly ignorant of the ways of God think they understand how God works.
I used to know a monk who ran a small farm who grew food for people in need. He was a big believer that prayer for food is nice, but planting seeds was far more efficient.
Most prayers go unanswered.
Incorrect, Greg — ALL prayers are answered!
It’s just that most often, the answer is “No”.
I stand corrected.
I disagree; they just don’t always get answered the way we want. That being said, I’d be willing to bet in this case that the successful outcome was more the result of the skill and experience of the pilots than God reaching down and altering the trajectory of a damaged airplane.
Easy to put limitations on God isn’t it? How do you know for sure? You don’t. You firm your god in your own image. Brag about your outstanding piloting skills and how you never needed his intervention when you meet someday. As we all will. Fun times.
How do you know that God exists? Got any evidence that we will face him and his judgement when we die?
The idea that the Christian God is all powerful and always good is impossible.
If he is all powerful, why does he not stop tsunamis or earthquakes that kill hundreds of thousands of people?
If he is always good, why would he give little kids brain cancer?
If God exists, he is either not all powerful or he is not always good.
If you want to subscribe to that belief, cool. But you do not get to impose your religious beliefs on all of us
Glad there were no injuries. According to reports in ADN the eye came ashore in LA around 7PM PDT. John Wayne Airport is a headache to fly in and out of anyway, and I am sure the approaching storm just compounded the problem. The old adage of “any landing you can walk away from is a good one” certainly applies here.
A good landing is one you can walk away from. A great landing is one where you can use the airplane again.
So this, apparently, was a good one.
Truer words were never spoken!
No one else has covered this crash landing. Good reporting, SD.
A large delegation of the passengers aboard this flight were visiting California to go to Disneyland. They said they only hoped the some of the rides in Disneyland were that exciting.
Thrill ‘em, chill ‘em, but try not to kill ‘em. Auto land doesn’t work at some airports.
Trig, The complete quote is attributed a young Cordova Native boy regarding Harold Gillam. Gillam flew off of the Copper River Mudflats on Mud Skis back in the 1930’s.
Gillam had several exciting landings, including folks being ejected from his craft and tossed into the drink.
The quote was I believe this, “Thrill ‘ em, Spill ’em , Chill’em, but no Kill’em Gillam”
Gillam sadly lost his life during WWII after the Beech 18 he was flying crashed into the hills above Annette Island. Gillam crawled with a broken leg from the mountain to the beach in an attempt to hail a rescue for the other passengers aboard his craft. He perished due to exposure.
Sorry, I didn’t remember it in entirety. Thanks for the refresh. Do you remember the one,”screw the passengers, we’ve got their money “ ?
The tropical storm Hillary had nothing to do with the landing gear you might as well say it was because the landing was made during the night.
Why were they flying into this storm in the first place?
What good name for a Hurricane, Hillary. Damage, destruction, fear, loss of money and jobs, and beating of the climate change drums. Maybe the next one will be Hurrican Joe.
If this plane had crashed while landing in the middle of Hurricane Hilary, the fatalities would obviously all have been listed as suicides.
Should have had a Bush pilot flying it.
Leave it to Hillary🤪😂
I think I flew into Sitka with that guy 🙂
I would have proceeded to SFO and saved the company $2.5 million and a lot of passengers from having to change underwear.
Without knowing the specific weather conditions existing at the time they landed or the experience levels of the pilots (particularly in these types of conditions) I am unwilling to make such a blanket statement from the comfort of my computer and with the benefit of hindsight. While I have never considered the effect on the larger operation in deciding whether to delay, cancel or divert a flight (although such considerations may affect my decision on *where* to divert), our job is ultimately to deliver the passengers and/or cargo to their destination if it is safe and legal to do so. Legality is determined by the regs; safety is a judgement call. I can’t say for certain that, had I been in the captain’s seat, I wouldn’t have made the exact same judgement.
PIC gets the ultimate call. Flying into known bad weather conditions is risky shot for everyone onboard, including the pilots. The captain of this flight will always wish he diverted, as the top poster has indicated.
Right on Ted, and AK Air Pilot. The captain of that flight won’t be sticking his head out of the flight deck to smile at his next plane load of passengers.
Since people on here feel the need to be monday-morning quarterbacks I did a little bit more research. The weather at the time of arrival consisted of SE winds of 17 gusting to 23 knots with light rain falling. This is well within the capability of the 737-800 and most airline pilots would consider those conditions a bit challenging but not hazardous. Absent additional information (such as reports from preceding aircraft) I would have little hesitation about landing in such conditions. Any number of unforseeable things could have resulted in this outcome; perhaps the landing gear strut was already weakened and failed under the stress of a slightly firmer than normal landing. We don’t know.
As a pilot the question you constantly ask yourself is: Can I defend this decision if something goes wrong? When I’m sitting in front of the NTSB and they ask if I had the opportunity to go back in time would I do anything different, can I confidently say “No”? With the details available I think the crew of flight 1288 is standing on pretty firm ground, but we all need to avoid making final judgements until the investigation is complete.
While I agree that the NTSB final report is worth waiting for, I’ll take my next AK Airlines flight with AK Air Pilot. My guess is that you probably will too.
What’s the fun of that?
Let’s hope you wouldn’t.
You say that but when you get on an airplane you expect to get where you’re going. My job is to get you there as long as it is legal and safe to do so. If I had refused (or worse, diverted) flight 1288 based on the advertised conditions (SE winds of 17 gusting to 23 knots), again assuming there was no additional adverse information, I can guarantee I would have gotten a call from the chief pilot questioning my decision – and rightfully so. People’s decisions need to be judged based on the information available at the time; when the investigation is complete only then will we know exactly what that information was and be able to fairly judge the crew’s performance.
AK Pilot has made some good points. As a pilot, I would want to know how many other planes were on their glide slope making the same approach and I’d be wanting immediate updates on the wind speed and direction by the four or five previous flights. Things can change on a dime during a severe weather watch. The bottom line is that passengers trust the pilot’s decision. And hopefully it’s always a good one. Thanks for posting, all above.
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