John Liotine’s Ignored Jackscrew

In 1997, an Alaska Airlines maintenance worker named John Liotine recommended replacing an aging jackscrew on an MD-83 airplane during routine maintenance, but the company overruled him. The same aircraft kept flying until January 31, 2000, when it operated as Alaska Airlines Flight 261. During the flight over the Pacific Ocean, the jackscrew failed, and the aircraft crashed. Investigators later tied the disaster to the failed jackscrew assembly.

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