Hong Kong A332 over Borneo on May 7th 2016, turbulence injures 14

Last Update: June 16, 2016 / 14:24:12 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
May 7, 2016

Classification
Accident

Flight number
HX-6704

Destination
Hong Kong, China

Aircraft Registration
B-LNE

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-200

ICAO Type Designator
A332

A Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A330-200, registration B-LNE performing flight HX-6704 from Denpasar (Indonesia) to Hong Kong (China) with 204 passengers and 12 crew, was enroute at FL410 over Borneo (Indonesia) about 510nm north of Bali's Denpasar Airport at about 03:02L (19:02Z May 6th) when the crew decided to turn around and return to Bali after turbulence had caused 17 injuries on board of the aircraft. The aircraft landed safely back in Denpasar about 90 minutes after turning around. 12 injured were taken to hospitals, 5 were treated at the airport.

The airline reported 14 passengers and 3 crew were injured in the turbulence encounter, only one passenger is still in hospital care for further checks.

On Jun 16th 2016 Indonesia's NTSC released their preliminary report stating in the factual part:

During the pre-flight, the pilots concerned to the weather chart which depicted significant clouds surround the planned route over Kalimantan Island. Respecting to the weather, the pilot requested additional fuel onboard for the weather diversion and also advised flight attendants that the flight would encounter turbulence in one hour after departure and make sure that the passengers secured the seatbelt when the seatbelt sign on.

The pilot noticed on the weather radar a clear path between build up cells on the right direction of the flight and the distance between build up cells was approximately 40 Nm. Thereafter the aircraft was turned to the right toward the clear path.

While flying in Flight Level (FL) 410 with seatbelt sign on, the pilot elected to fly on a clear path between build up cells. In the middle of the buildup cells, the pilots started to see a magenta color displyed on the radar and this was about 5 Nm ahead, the pilot decided to fly straight as buildup cells were on the left and right of the aircraft track.

At 1834 UTC, the flight encountered severe turbulence for about 2 minutes. The autopilot disengaged and the pilot flew the aircraft manually for about 6 minutes.

Three flight attendants and 11 passengers injured. After assessed the situation of the injured occupants, the PIC decided to return to Bali.

The NTSC reported that the aircraft encountered vertical accelerations between -0.63 and +1.9G and altitude deviations between 40,704 and 41,312 feet MSL (standard pressure) during the turbulence encounter. After assessing injuries on the way back to Bali ground stations were informed about serious injuries of two flight attendants and 5 minor injuries on board. After the aircraft landed, the NTSC provided a count of 3 cabin crew and 11 passengers receiving minor injuries, there were no serious injuries.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
May 7, 2016

Classification
Accident

Flight number
HX-6704

Destination
Hong Kong, China

Aircraft Registration
B-LNE

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-200

ICAO Type Designator
A332

This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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