Alaska Jet Makes Unplanned Stop
An Alaska Airlines jet made an unscheduled landing at Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday after an unexplained series of shudders shook the plane over Mexico, airlines officials said.
The 97 passengers were transferred to another plane as mechanics and airframe experts began studying the twin-engine MD-80. Jack Evans, a spokesman for Alaska, said the problem appeared to be with the airframe rather than any of the control surfaces.
Flight 212 from Long Beach to Mazatlan, Mexico, had just crossed into Mexican airspace when the shaking began, Evans said.
Two years ago, an Alaska MD-80 series jet en route from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco and Seattle crashed into the ocean off Ventura County, killing all 88 on board.
Investigators say the plane crashed after its horizontal stabilizer, a control surface in the tail, broke off.
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