Allegiant A320 near Saint Petersburg on Jul 12th 2023, turbulence injures 6
Last Update: October 20, 2023 / 11:15:23 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Jul 12, 2023
Classification
Accident
Airline
Allegiant Air
Flight number
G4-227
Departure
Asheville, United States
Destination
Saint Petersburg, United States
Aircraft Registration
N249NV
Aircraft Type
Airbus A320
ICAO Type Designator
A320
The airline confirmed the aircraft experienced severe turbulence before landing and continued for a normal landing. Two passengers and two cabin crew were taken to a hospital for assessment.
The airport said they believed the injuries were minor.
Passengers reported they first hit a rather minor turbulence causing flight attendants to fall, thereafter a major petrifying turbulence occurred, which threw the just fallen flight attendants up into the air and back down.
On Oct 20th 2023 the NTSB released their final report and the investigation docket concluding the probable cause of the accident was:
An inadvertent encounter with convectively induced turbulence during descent.
The NTSB analysed:
Allegiant Airlines flight 227 (AAY227), which originated fromAsheville Regional Airport (AVL), Asheville, North Carolina, encountered convective-induced turbulence while descending to 13,000 ft during the approach into St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE), Clearwater, Florida. The captain was a check pilot, and the first officer was the pilot flying.
AAY227 established communication with air traffic control (ATC) and reported that the airplane was descending to cross the CAPOH intersection at flight level (FL) 270. The controller notified the flight crew of an area of moderate to heavy precipitation at the airplane’s 12:00 position which was 45 miles away and advised the crew to anticipate deviations to the right of the airplane’s course. The controller instructed AAY227 to descend and maintain FL 190, deviate to the right of course upon leaving FL 260, and proceed directly to the OLENE intersection when able. AAY227 was descending from FL 230 when the controller instructed the crew to cross OLENE at 13,000 ft and 250 knots.
The flight crewmembers reported that when they started the descent the airplane was in clear air and the ride was relatively smooth. The crewmembers also indicated that the initial crossing restriction for OLENE was given late by ATC and that the airplane was about 4,500 ft high on the descent profile, so they deployed the speed brakes and turned off the autopilot to meet the altitude and speed restrictions. The flight crew stated that no pilot reports (PIREPS) were conveyed during the flight and airborne weather radar did not show any significant precipitation returns. The cabin crewmembers stated that, although the seatbelt sign was on, they had not received the chimes that indicate final descent preparation should begin because the airplane had not yet descended through 10,000 ft.
As AAY227 approached its level-off altitude, the flight crewmembers observed a small cumulus buildup at an altitude of about 13,000 ft that was unavoidable. According to the first officer, the clouds were not dark and looked no different than the clouds that the airplane had previously flown through. As the airplane entered the clouds, it encountered some minor expected jolts, and just before exiting, a severe jolt of turbulence occurred that lasted about 1.5 seconds. After the turbulence encounter, the captain immediately called the cabin crew and was informed of multiple injuries. The captain declared an emergency and asked for priority handling direct to PIE. The airplane subsequently made an uneventful landing.
There were four flight attendants (FA) working the flight and they stated that just after the initial descent announcements, the lead FA (FA 1) was in the forward galley, FA 4 was in the aft galley, and FA 2 and FA 3 were walking through the cabin conducting seatbelt compliance checks. As the FAs were completing their checks, the airplane encountered turbulence, and all four flight attendants contacted the ceiling and then the cabin floor.
After landing, FA 2 and 4 were provided medical assistance for serious injuries. Four passengers received minor injuries. FA 1 and FA 3 were not injured.
A postaccident review of the radar and satellite imagery indicated that several low-level gust fronts had merged near the accident site, resulting in convective buildup where the airplane had been operating. The National Weather Service issued a convective SIGMET (Significant Meteorological Information) for the area about 15 minutes prior to the encounter, of thunderstorms moving eastward at 10 knots, with implied potential for severe turbulence in and near convective cells. The Tampa WSR-88D detected a developing cell in the immediate vicinity of the turbulence event with echoes between 15 – 45 dBZ, however, cockpit weather radar does not typically pick up echoes less than 20 dBZ. Therefore, it is unlikely the flight crew were aware that they were entering into a larger area of convection that included higher intensity echoes located east of their flight path and encountered moderate or greater convectively induced turbulence (CIT) within the clouds.
Aircraft Registration Data
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Jul 12, 2023
Classification
Accident
Airline
Allegiant Air
Flight number
G4-227
Departure
Asheville, United States
Destination
Saint Petersburg, United States
Aircraft Registration
N249NV
Aircraft Type
Airbus A320
ICAO Type Designator
A320
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
Article source
You can read 2 more free articles without a subscription.
Subscribe now and continue reading without any limits!
Read unlimited articles and receive our daily update briefing. Gain better insights into what is happening in commercial aviation safety.
Send tip
Support AeroInside by sending a small tip amount.
Related articles
Fleet type match
Allegiant A320 at St. Petersburg on Apr 26th 2023, bird strike
An Allegiant Airbus A320-200, registration N249NV performing flight G4-996 from St. Petersburg,FL to Omaha,NE (USA), was climbing out of St.…
Fleet type match
Allegiant A320 at Chicago on Mar 14th 2024, flaps problem
An Allegiant Airbus A320-200, registration N241NV performing flight G4-875 from Punta Gorda,FL to Chicago Rockford,IL (USA) with 170 people on board,…
Fleet type match
Allegiant A320 at Phoenix on Jan 26th 2024, bird strikes damage both engines
An Allegiant Air Airbus A320-200, registration N257NV performing flight G4-693 from Phoenix Mesa,AZ to Des Moines,IA (USA), was climbing out of Mesa…
Fleet type match
Allegiant A320 at Fort Lauderdale on Jul 23rd 2023, TCAS saves the day but does not prevent injuries to cabin crew
An Allegiant Airbus A320-200, registration N229NV performing flight G4-485 from Fort Lauderdale,FL to Lexington,KY (USA), was cleared to climb to…
Fleet type match
Allegiant A319 at St. Petersburg on Apr 29th 2021, near collision with private aircraft in initial climb at 300 feet
An Allegiant Airbus A319-100, registration N306NV performing flight G4-803 from St. Petersburg,FL to Norfolk,VA (USA) with 123 passengers and 6 crew,…
Newest articles
Fleet type match
Delta B763 at New York on Apr 26th 2024, emergency slide trouble
A Delta Airlines Boeing 767-300, registration N176DN performing flight DL-520 from New York JFK,NY to Los Angeles,CA (USA), was climbing out of JFK's…
Fleet type match
UPS B744 at Tokyo on May 6th 2023, hard touchdown on windshear recovery
A UPS United Parcel Service Boeing 747-400, registration N580UP performing flight 5X-109 from Shanghai Pudong (China) to Tokyo Narita (Japan), was on…
Subscribe today
Are you researching aviation incidents? Get access to AeroInside Insights, unlimited read access and receive the daily newsletter.
Pick your plan and subscribePartner
A new way to document and demonstrate airworthiness compliance and aircraft value. Find out more.
ELITE Simulation Solutions is a leading global provider of Flight Simulation Training Devices, IFR training software as well as flight controls and related services. Find out more.
Your regulation partner, specialists in aviation safety and compliance; providing training, auditing, and consultancy services. Find out more.
AeroInside Blog
Popular aircraft
Airbus A320Boeing 737-800
Boeing 737-800 MAX
Popular airlines
American AirlinesUnited
Delta
Air Canada
Lufthansa
British Airways