WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The crash of an Alaska Airlines MD-80 off the coast of California on Monday was the carrier's  worst accident in almost 30 years, airline safety records showed.

Flight 261, carrying 88 passengers and crew, crashed into the Pacific Ocean around 4:15 p.m. shortly after its pilot reported  mechanical problems. Officials did not expect to find survivors.

Alaska Airlines has had a good safety record over the past decade, although the National Transportation Safety Board has  records on several minor accidents.

In February 1999, another of the airline's fleet of MD-80s reported flight control difficulties during takeoff from Fairbanks  International Airport.

The pilot said the plane's nose failed to rise as he pulled back on the control column until he applied excessive pressure. The  plane continued to Anchorage for an emergency landing. No one aboard was hurt.

 Another MD-80 operated by Alaska Airlines suffered an equipment problem while taxiing to the passenger loading gate in  Seattle in April 1994. None of the 132 passengers or six crew members was injured in that incident, according to NTSB  records.

 But the airline had several more serious accidents in the 1970s.

 In September 1971, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 727 flew into the side of a mountain near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people  aboard.

 In April 1976, another 727 overran the runway at Ketchikan, Alaska, killing one of the 50 passengers aboard.