And that's it...nothing on the wires yet. But it made our tv news (CTV at 11 p.m. MST), complete with pictures. Apparently it landed shortly after it took off.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), February 21, 2000

Answers

Wow! ... but there isn't any connection to computerized failures! Must be a simmulated onboard test of mechanical gremlins!

-- S BRyan G III (sbrg3@juno.com), February 21, 2000.

Whew! Had to go all the way down to Utah to find this link from the Salt Lake Standard.

(for educational purposes only)

"Plane makes emergency landing

SALT LAKE CITY -- A German MD-80 -- the same model plane that has been under scrutiny since the recent Alaska Airlines crash -- was grounded for several hours Saturday at the Salt Lake International Airport.

The Funjet charter flight took off Saturday morning with 160 passengers headed to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. About 40 minutes into the flight, lights on board flickered and the plane began to lose altitude, KSL-TV reported.

The pilot turned the plane around and landed safely at the airport, where emergency vehicles waited on the tarmac.

Passengers on the Funjet flight, which was actually a German plane chartered by the Mexican Airline Allegra, were told there was a mechanical problem in the plane's flaps that was corrected. The flight was reboarded and took off around 6:30 p.m.

But some passengers were nervous about getting back on board.

"I don't want to get back on this plane," Liz Zirkle of Park City said. "None of us do. It's an MD-80 and you know the MD-80 story, I'm sure."

(snip)

end of article

So, this was a flaps problem. But the last comment by one of the passengers is telling.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), February 21, 2000.

More info:

Sunday, February 20, 2000 Another MD-80 has mechanical trouble

AMY CLANCY KIRO 7 EYEWITNESS NEWS

For at least the sixth time in the past few weeks, passengers on board an MD-80 series aircraft endured a terrifying emergency landing.

The most recent report of trouble was this weekend in Salt Lake City.

What was supposed to have been a fun vacation in Mexico got off to a very bad start Saturday when more than 160 passengers on board an MD- 80 suddenly found themselves making an emergency landing, surrounded by emergency vehicles.

Jozette Miles and her new husband were just two of the more than 160 passengers headed to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico early Saturday morning on board a Fun-Jet charter when, shortly after take-off, something went wrong.

"When we got up into the air, the flight was not stabilizing at all. It would not catch altitude, it was dropping altitude a lot," Miles said. Fun-Jet Charters would not reveal what caused the pilots to return the plane.

But Salt Lake International Airport Operations confirmed there was a problem with an indicator light and with the plane gaining altitude.

"I think a lot of us got sick because of that," Miles said.

This weekend's incident is at least the sixth emergency landing of an MD-80 series aircraft since 88 people lost their lives Alaska Airlines Flight 261.

Two days after the fatal crash, an American Airlines jet bound for Dallas had to return to Phoenix after pilots reported problems with the horizontal stabilizer -- the same problems reported aboard doomed Flight 261.

Then, on February 5, an Alaska Airlines MD-80 had to return to Reno because of a suspected wiring short.

It happened again, just days later, aboard an Alaska Airlines MD-80 from Puerto Vallarta to Seattle. This one had to make an emergency landing in San Francisco.

Then, four days after that, another MD-80 experiences difficulties -- this one flown by TWA. It was forced to return to Phoenix because of suspected hydraulic problems.

And just this past week, an American Airlines MD-80 had to make an emergency landing in Albuquerque because of smoke in the cockpit.

Passengers aboard the latest problematic flight -- the Fun-Jet charter -- have finally arrived in Mexico, but with frightful memories of how their vacation began.

"I mean, it was dropping a lot," Miles said.

Passengers, like Miles, say they are angry at Fun-Jet for more than just the emergency landing and the altitude problems that made many sick.

They say the charter service kept them at the airport for hours, awaiting word on when they could get another flight.

Their original jet was reportedly fixed and flew them all to Mexico nearly 14-hours later than scheduled.

http://www.seattleinsider.com/news/2000/02/20/md80troubles.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 21, 2000.

Rachel, here's a snip from a third story from AP. The "however" in the quote below is particularly significan't. It suggests that the reporter has raised a red flag regarding the official explanation (that there was a mechanical problem with the flaps). AP editors routinely delete "howevers" because of the implications....

"Passengers on the Funjet plane, which was a German plane chartered by the Mexican Airline Allegra, were told there was a a mechanical problem in the plane's flaps that was corrected.

However, airport duty manager Jerry Dewsnup said Sunday his records indicated the plane had a faulty indicator light. He said it was repaired before the jetliner took off around 8 p.m. "

http://beta.newsreal.com/cgi-bin/NewsService? osform_template=pages/newsrealStory&ID=newsreal&storypath=News/Story_2 000_02_21.NRdb@2@5@3@0&path=News/Category.NRdb@2@15

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 21, 2000.

people are nuts to keep flying on those planes and on that route!! i am not flying period for a while.

-- tt (cuddluppy@aol.com), February 21, 2000.

ANOTHER ONE??? Oh my God! Are they going to wait for more people to die before they wake up?

"When we got up into the air, the flight was not stabilizing at all. It would not catch altitude, it was dropping altitude a lot,"

Helloooo? Do you see a pattern yet? They better start looking at something besides jackscrews. Something like embedded chips!

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), February 21, 2000.

"And planes did/will not fall from the sky ." Polly want a soggy cracker ? Back in your cages , you " bird brains " ! Eagle

-- Hal Walker (e999eagle@FREEWWWEB.COM), February 21, 2000.

This was on Sunday .... and if you count the two events on the same day earlier this week, which were "clearly not Y2K related", that makes 5 MD-80 incidents since February 15, when I posted my sorry- assed prediction of 5 incidents before the END of February ...... I later upped the ante to say if there wer 5 MD-80 incidents (meaning emergency landings or aborted takeoffs .... or god forbid, crashes) before Sunday, February 20, I would go out on a limb and predict an additional 12 by month end.

>"<

-- Squirrel Hunter (nuts@upina.cellrelaytower), February 21, 2000.