Delta B738 near Detroit on Feb 18th 2012, turbulence injures 4
Last Update: February 28, 2013 / 10:36:04 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Feb 18, 2012
Classification
Accident
Cause
Turbulence
Airline
Delta Airlines
Flight number
DL-1806
Departure
Los Angeles, United States
Destination
Detroit, United States
Aircraft Registration
N374DA
Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800
ICAO Type Designator
B738
On Jan 8th 2013 the NTSB released their first report of the accident stating the flight crew had received reports of turbulence near Detroit and had informed cabin crew to have completed service prior to initiating the descent towards Detroit. The flight attendants reported service was completed and were doing their final checks prior to landing in Detroit. Cabin crew made an announcement to passengers to expect turbulence and have their seat belts fastened. The flight attendants stated however that the turbulence hit prior to them expecting the turbulence. The first officer described that at FL290 the aircraft encountered moderate jolts, decreasing turbulence was encountered until the aircraft descended into smooth air below FL190.
The flight data recorder showed peaks of +1.568 and -0.30G of vertical acceleration, defining the turbulence as severe.
A polar jetstream was moving northeast from Texas towards Ohio then eastwards with maximum winds of 180 knots at FL350 and 70 knots between 17,000 feet and FL510. The NTSB stated: "A large area of moderate turbulence was forecasted with the polar jet stream from Missouri,Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. The chart also expected another area of moderate to severe turbulence from 25,000 to 32,000 feet with the larger area over northern Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The accident site was located within the area of moderate to severe turbulence potential."
On Feb 28th 2013 the NTSB released their final report concluding the probable cause of the accident was:
An in-flight encounter with forecasted turbulence, which resulted in a serious injury to a flight attendant. Contributing to the accident was the flight attendant not being seated with her seatbelt fastened when the encounter occurred.
Aircraft Registration Data
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Feb 18, 2012
Classification
Accident
Cause
Turbulence
Airline
Delta Airlines
Flight number
DL-1806
Departure
Los Angeles, United States
Destination
Detroit, United States
Aircraft Registration
N374DA
Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-800
ICAO Type Designator
B738
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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