Alaska Airlines Grounds Up to 18 MD-80 Jets

Seven months after one of its MD-80s crashed off the coast of California, killing 88 people, Alaska Airlines is grounding up to 18 MD-80s in its fleet, the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday.

The FAA said Alaska Airlines had decided to stop flying the planes until it could further check the jackscrew controlling the MD-80’s tail-mounted horizontal stabilizer after learning that some of the tools it used in previous tests may not have met the manufacturer’s design specifications.

The agency said it had no indications of other problems but would ask other airlines that fly the MD-80 and its sister craft, the DC-9, to double-check their own aircraft and the tools used to test the jackscrew assembly.

“Alaska Airlines has done the right thing by deciding to double-check the jackscrew tolerances of the remainder of its MD-80s,” the FAA said.

After the Jan. 31 crash, investigators raised concerns about the airline’s maintenance of the doomed jet.