Frontier A319 near Denver on Oct 12th 2018, turbulence injures flight attendant

Last Update: January 7, 2022 / 12:08:08 GMT/Zulu time

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Photo of Frontier Airlines N926FR, Airbus A319 — Frontier Airlines N926FR, Airbus A319 (Photo credit: InSapphoWeTrust / Flickr / License: CC by-sa)

Incident Facts

Date of incident
Oct 12, 2018

Classification
Accident

Cause
Turbulence injures flight attendant

Airline
Frontier Airlines

Flight number
F9-190

Departure
Denver, United States

Destination
Austin, United States

Aircraft Registration
N926FR

Aircraft Type
Airbus A319

ICAO Type Designator
A319

A Frontier Airlines Airbus A319-100, registration N926FR performing flight F9-190 from Denver,CO to Austin,TX (USA) with 19 passengers and 5 crew, was climbing out of Denver when the aircraft encountered severe turbulence causing injuries to a flight attendant. The crew stopped the climb at FL270 and returned to Denver for a safe landing about 50 minutes after departure.

The FAA reported the flight attendant broke his/her ankle when the aircraft encountered severe turbulence. The occurrence was rated an accident.

The aircraft remained on the ground for about 65 minutes, then departed again and reached Austin with a delay of about 2 hours.

On Mar 26th 2020 the NTSB reported the occurrence was rated an accident and is being investigated by the NTSB.

On Jan 7th 2022 the NTSB released their final report (and Docket) concluding the probable cause of the accident was:

inadvertent encounter with clear air turbulence resulting in a flight attendant receiving serious injuries.

The NTSB analysed:

According to the flight crew, the flight encountered only intermittent light turbulence during the initial climb. However, as the airplane was climbing through flight level 240, they encountered continuous moderate turbulence. The airplane began to accelerate rapidly so the captain disconnected the autopilot and increased the climb. There was no convective activity in the area and no reports of any turbulence from other airplanes.

At the time of the turbulence encounter, two flight attendance in the aft gally were preparing for cabin service. Initially, the turbulence was light, however, when flight attendants felt the intensity increasing, they moved to get into their jump seats. Before they could get in their seats, they were both thrown into the air and then onto the floor. One flight attendant injured her ankle and the other injured her knee.

The captain called back to the cabin and was told that one of the flight attendants was seriously injured. He declared a medical emergency and requested paramedics meet the flight on arrival. After landing, one flight attendant was transported to a local hospital where she was diagnosed with a broken ankle.