Planes Make Unscheduled Landings in Seattle, San Francisco

An Alaska Airlines MD-80 made an unscheduled landing in Seattle on Tuesday after the pilots reported a problem with the backup motor controlling the tail-mounted horizontal stabilizer, the carrier said.

Flight 97 left Seattle for Anchorage, Alaska, about 10 a.m. and returned to Seattle an hour later with no injuries to the 140 passengers on board, spokesman Lou Cancelmi said.

“En route the crew found a problem with the alternate stabilizer trim motor. The crew did not declare an emergency, but the tower called out some equipment as a precaution,” Cancelmi said. “In checking, they discovered that a switch in the cockpit needs to be replaced.”

Alaska Airlines suffered its worst air disaster ever when an MD-80 crashed off the California coast on Jan. 31, killing all 88 people on board.

The pilots of that doomed jet reported problems controlling the horizontal stabilizer, prompting crash investigators to scrutinize the apparatus, which controls the angle of ascent or descent, as a possible cause of the accident.

The MD-80, inherited by Boeing Co. when it bought McDonnell Douglas in 1997, is one of the most popular commercial jets in service.

Later Tuesday, an American Airlines Boeing 777 bound for Tokyo from San Jose made a safe emergency landing at San Francisco International Airport after losing power in one of its two engines just after takeoff, officials said.

The jet with 149 passengers aboard reported engine trouble soon after departing from San Jose at 12:50 p.m. Passengers heard a loud bang and the left engine went out and began smoking shortly after takeoff, San Francisco airport spokesman Ron Wilson said.

After the pilot dumped fuel over the Pacific Ocean, Flight 129 was diverted to San Francisco, where it landed about an hour later, he said. The flight originated in Las Vegas.

There were no reported injuries, and the incident is being investigated. The engine failed because its power supply was cut off, possibly because a bird was caught in the engine or because of mechanical failure, Wilson said.