RECOVERY EXTENDS FROM AIR TO WATER VOLUNTEERS, CREWS CONDUCT MASSIVE EFFORT.

Byline: David Greenberg and Cecilia Chan Staff Writers

OXNARD - From the fishermen patrolling the sea to volunteers handing out sandwiches to hungry rescuers, Ventura County mobilized a massive effort Tuesday to save what it could from Alaska Airlines Flight 261.

Working around the clock in air and water, more than 1,100 Navy and Coast Guard crew members, and more sheriff's, fire, coroner's and volunteer personnel turned the Oxnard coast into a staging area in the aftermath of one of the area's worst local disasters ever.

Crews and supporters kept their sights on trying to recover victims, but instead found mostly tiny fragments - a pink hair roller or piece of insulation - of the lives and aircraft that crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 4:20 p.m. Monday.

``This is starting to get sad,'' said Bob Perron of Ventura, the skipper of the fishing boat Sea Biscuit, as he used a hand net to scoop up a woman's black sandal. ``It's getting personal now that it's not plane parts. These things belonged to people. That shoe came off somebody's foot when (the plane) hit.''

During a morning spent circling the crash site, the skipper snagged hundreds of tiny pieces of insulation, a 3-foot section of an aircraft cabin wall with honeycombed insulation still attached and a pink plastic hair roller.

Dozens of boats and planes from the Navy and Coast Guard surveyed a 5-mile radius in Santa Barbara Channel, where water temperatures hovered at 57 degrees and water fell 730 feet deep.

Vessels usually looking for rockfish or albacore lent their hands - or shuttled the throng of media among a school of dolphins playing near the scene.

``I've seen a handful of things on the ocean that I'll never forget and this will definitely be one of them,'' said Capt. Bob Valney of Ventura, who owns the 58-foot Sea Biscuit. ``An airplane crash is a very rare thing. I felt the horror. From what I heard on the (ship) radio - remains is the term they used - it really opened your eyes. These people died a very horrible death.''

As search boats moved in and out of Port Hueneme, an artist erected a 7-foot wooden cross as a memorial to the victims. The cross was adorned with flowers, and a white plastic angel sat at the base, next to a candle in a jar.

And within the Naval Construction Battallion Center, Building 543 became a holding area for all that was found.

The Ventura County Emergency Operation Center had declared a level- three emergency, alerting all sheriff's personnel and mobilizing its staff of 40 to provide support.

Medical examiner's offices from Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties were called on to help Ventura County's five-investigator team.

Overnight and into Tuesday morning, Los Angeles County Lifeguard Capt. Shelly Butler and his three-member crew on Baywatch Marina del Rey worked the scene after having been summoned by the Coast Guard.

``I've been with the county for 36 years. I've assisted on many plane crashes, but nothing of this magnitude,'' said the veteran lifeguard. ``The scene was fairly solemn. The people that were there responded and wanted to do the best they could. There was just a lot of floating debris.''

Near the staging area, Salvation Army and Red Cross volunteers had set up relief centers to provide food and counseling services for the crews.

A hot turkey lunch was being prepared at the Salvation Army's Ventura headquarters, to be shuttled to the center to provide a warm meal for the weary rescuers.

Simi Valley resident Dick Smith and his wife, Dorothy, arrived at 8 a.m. to hand out cold drinks, fruit and turkey sandwiches to the crews as part of the Salvation Army effort.

But they did not talk to the crews about the grim scene on the water.

``I've tried to stay away from that,'' said Dick Smith, 72. ``If they want to talk, I'll listen, but I don't feel it's my place to ask. Everybody's doing their job.''

The retired deputy sheriff said he volunteered because of the contact he had over the years with the Salvation Army during his law enforcement career.

``I feel it's a chance to give something back, to help feed the troops,'' he said.

Salvation Army Director Garvel Wike said about 45 volunteers were on scene. ``Plus, we have our ministers here from the Salvation Army standing by to do family crisis and grief counseling. Several families are already here and chaplains are working with them.''

The Country Inn in Port Hueneme had reserved 30 rooms for family members of crash victims, and the Holiday Inn on California Street was also housing family members, officials said.

< Staff Writers Krystn Shrieve and Amy Raisin contributed to this story.

< FLIGHT 261 TRAGEDY TIME LINEKey events before and after the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261.

--May 1992: Alaska Airlines receives the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft involved in the Flight 261 crash.

--Oct. 31, 1994: The plane has a damaged emergency evacuation slide.

--Aug. 11, 1995: The No. 1 engine fails during climb-out passing 2,500 feet. The plane lands without incident. The engine was replaced.

--Jan. 13, 1999: A comprehensive ``C'' check, including structural inspection, conducted on the aircraft.

--Jan. 11, 2000: Aircraft inspected during a less comprehensive, routine ``A'' check.

--Jan. 30: Plane undergoes routine servicing.

--Jan. 31, 2000:

--1:30 p.m. - Alaska Airlines Flight 261 departs Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, bound for San Francisco and Seattle.

--4 p.m. - Pilot checks in with air traffic controller at Los Angeles International Airport and reports no problems.

--4:10 p.m. - Crew of Flight 261 contacts LAX and reports they are descending and experiencing problems with the horizontal stabilizer. The plane receives clearance for an emergency landing at LAX.

--4:26 p.m. - U.S. Coast Guard receives initial report from park ranger witnessing crash about 10 miles off the coast of Oxnard, which is about 40 miles northwest of LAX.

--4:27 p.m. - Coast Guard issues emergency broadcast to boaters in area and diverts airborne helicopter to crash site.

--4:28 p.m. - Coast Guard dispatches search boats.

--5:04 p.m. - Military aircraft drop data marker buoys to help coordinate search-and-rescue operations by tracking ocean current. Dozens of fishing boats, cargo ships, military planes and oil platform workers join search.

- Associated Press

HOT LINE

People who find anything that might be connected with the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 should call the U.S. Coast Guard in Oxnard at one of the following numbers: [phone]; [phone] or [phone].

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) This memorial was left at Port Hueneme Beach Park.

(2 -- color) At Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard, Janelle Davis of Santa Barbara and her boyfriend grieve over Davis' sister, who died on Flight 261.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) A Coast Guard crew peers into the water near the suspected crash site of Alaska Airlines Flight 261.

(4) Vessels of different sizes cruise near the site believed to be where the aircraft went down, near Anacapa Island.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(5 -- 6) Above, Bob Perron shows debris he fished out of the ocean. At right, McDonnell-Douglas engineer Ben Cruz prepares to place flowers on the sand at Port Hueneme Beach Park.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) Flight 261 Tragedy Time Line (see text)

(2 -- ran in Conejo edition only) HOT LINE (see text)