Airline to Be Billed for Overtime

Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that his staff has worked a collective 3,800 hours so far in assisting with the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261.

Brooks said claims for overtime will be forwarded to Alaska Airlines. The sheriff also said he does not expect the county will have to absorb any costs. His office assisted federal officials through the medical examiner’s office, public information and basic law enforcement.

“In the last four or five incidents [in air crashes nationally], the air carrier has covered the cost of the hours,” Brooks said. “It was a tremendous amount of expenditure, and in a year when the county’s having its own expenses we are obligated to go for cost recovery whenever we can.”

Brooks said legislation pending before Congress would mandate that airlines cover the costs of law enforcement assistance.

At a community meeting Tuesday night, Dr. Robert Levin, medical director of the county’s Public Health Services, told Hollywood Beach-area residents they should not be concerned about environmental pollutants from the wreck because jet fuel that spilled had evaporated and human remains are not likely to contaminate the ocean.

Levin was one of more than half a dozen officials from agencies involved in the aftermath of the crash who attended a meeting of the Channel Islands Beach Community Services District. The Navy, Coast Guard, National Transportation Safety Board and Sheriff’s Department were also represented.

One of the more than two dozen residents who attended asked what would happen to the MD-83 wreckage that had settled 700 feet below the surface. An NTSB official, Erik Grosof, said authorities have not determined how much will be brought to the surface.

Meanwhile, the first four victims of the Jan. 31 crash off the Ventura County coast have been identified, and recovery staff members are “pretty close” to identifying five to 10 more people, Ventura County Chief Medical Examiner Ronald O’Halloran said.

Dental records helped authorities identify two victims, and fingerprints were used to identify the others. One victim has been identified but the name will not be released until the family has been notified. Also, the remains of one infant have been recovered and staff members are close to identifying the body, authorities said.

Victims identified thus far are “Harry” Stasinos, 54, of Brier, Wash.; Meghann Hall, 19, of Enumclaw, Wash., and Joseph Knight, 54, of Snohomish, Wash.

Hazel Knight, who lives in Washington, said she is relieved that her son Joseph’s body has been identified. But Knight said she came to peace with the deaths of Joseph and his wife, Linda, shortly after the crash.

“They wanted to be together,” she said. “That is the way they always dreamed of going. Now they are in God’s hands.”

Joseph and Linda Knight, ministers from Monroe, Wash., were doing missionary work in Puerto Vallarta. They were also celebrating their 32nd wedding anniversary and Joseph’s 54th birthday.

The couple, both born in Washington, rode horses and occasionally preached on horseback, Knight said. They had two children, Jeff and Jennifer, who said they plan to carry on their parents’ legacy--both in Washington and Mexico.

The family was very close and spent most Sundays together, Knight said. “We were together all the time,” she said. “Joseph and Linda were loved.”

Knight said she saw the couple at church the Sunday they left. Before heading to the airport, both Joseph and Linda preached to their congregation, she said.

Joseph’s father, Joe, said he also feels a sense of relief. He said he hopes Linda’s body will be identified soon. “Though we had come to peace with [their deaths], it makes us glad that they can be put to rest,” he said.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by an agency contracted by Alaska Airlines. Kenyon International Emergency Services is holding the victims’ remains until families can select a funeral home. The Houston-based agency will handle transport of the remains.

O’Halloran said some of the victims may never be identified, and it will be months before the identification process is completed.

County staff members will seek a court order from a Ventura County Superior Court judge to issue death certificates for those victims who are not identified, a process that could take months, he said.

“One of the family members asked why the remains couldn’t be left at the bottom of the ocean,” O’Halloran said. “I said, ‘It’s not my decision.’ ”

Times staff writer Margaret Talev and Times Community News reporters Katie Cooper and Tony Lystra contributed to this story.

* DETAILS RELEASED

Mechanical problem aboard the doomed jet apparently festered for most of its journey. A1