INVESTIGATION REOPENED AUTHORITIES TAKING ANOTHER LOOK AT ALASKAN AIR CRASH.

Byline: Staff and wire services

Federal authorities have reopened a criminal probe into the January 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines' Flight 261 off the Ventura County coast, company officials confirmed Wednesday.

Alaska Air Group, based in Seattle, informed the public and its shareholders of the investigation in its annual 10-K financial report, filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Flight 261 crashed off the coast of Port Hueneme on Jan. 31, 2000, killing all 88 passengers and crew members aboard.

Federal investigators determined that a lack of grease on the jet's jackscrew - a tail component that helps move the plane's stabilizer and sets the angle of flight - likely caused the crash.

The U.S. attorney's investigation into maintenance practices at the company's Oakland base had been put on hold while the National Transportation Safety Board conducted its investigation.

In December, the NTSB ruled that shoddy maintenance at the airline was the reason for a lack of grease, excessive wear and the eventual failure of the jackscrew.

Following that ruling, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco reactivated its investigation ``in order to review it in light of the final NTSB report,'' the company said in its SEC filing.

Alaska Airlines spokesman Jack Evans said the company expected the inquiry to be resumed. The company declined to comment further.

U.S. Attorney Deb Young, who is based in the agency's San Francisco office, would not confirm or deny the reopening of the investigation.

The daughter of two victims aboard Flight 261 applauded the decision.

``All of us are basically jubilant that the (government) has decided to reopen the case because we know there's something there,'' said Paige Stockley of Seattle, whose parents were killed in the crash. ``I'm fully expecting the (government) to turn up that smoking gun they've been looking for.''

The SEC requires companies to mention legal proceedings that could potentially affect the company's finances. The company is being sued by families of the crash victims. Alaska Air Group said it did not expect the legal proceedings to ``materially affect'' the company's financial position.

The company also reported it had settled 48 of 88 lawsuits filed against it by families of the victims.

Flight 261 had taken off from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and had scheduled stops in San Francisco and Seattle, but the plane plunged into the Pacific Ocean off Oxnard.

In January 2001, family members of the victims visited the site and dedicated an 800-pound granite memorial to the aircraft's passengers and crew. The memorial still stands on the Point Mugu beach.