China Eastern A332 near Sydney on Nov 29th 2016, turbulence injures 11

Last Update: March 24, 2017 / 14:54:55 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Nov 29, 2016

Classification
Accident

Cause
Turbulence

Airline
China Eastern Airlines

Flight number
MU-777

Departure
Kunming, China

Destination
Sydney, Australia

Aircraft Registration
B-5921

Aircraft Type
Airbus A330-200

ICAO Type Designator
A332

A China Eastern Airlines Airbus A330-200, registration B-5921 performing flight MU-777 from Kunming (China) to Sydney,NS (Australia) with 213 passengers and 14 crew, was descending through FL200 towards Sydney when the aircraft encountered severe turbulence causing injuries to 11 occupants of the aircraft. The aircraft continued for a safe landing on Sydney's runway 16R about 15 minutes later. 11 occupants received injuries including neck injuries of varying degrees and were taken to hospitals.

The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground for 7 hours before departing for the return flight MU-778 on schedule.

The airline reported the aircraft encountered clear air turbulence. Five passengers and one flight attendant received minor injuries, one flight attendant received serious injuries when she fell onto an armrest, was disabled for the remainder of the flight and needed to be taken out of the aircraft on a wheelchair. This flight attendant remains in hospital care, all others have been discharged shortly after arriving at the hospital.

The ATSB reported 11 passengers received minor injuries when the aircraft encountered severe turbulence on approach to Sydney. The ATSB opened an investigation into the occurrence.

On Mar 24th 2017 the ATSB released their final report concluding the probable causes of the accident were:

The aircraft encountered CAT. The cabin crew and passengers who were injured during the turbulence did not have seatbelts fastened, despite the seatbelt sign being switched on.

The ATSB analysed:

The aircraft encountered unforecast CAT about ten minutes after the seatbelt sign had been illuminated for the descent into Sydney. The cabin crew were preparing the cabin for landing. A number of passengers and members of the cabin crew, towards the back of the aircraft, who were not wearing seatbelts, were injured during the CAT event. They sustained head, neck, hand, back, and abdominal injuries.
Incident Facts

Date of incident
Nov 29, 2016

Classification
Accident

Cause
Turbulence

Airline
China Eastern Airlines

Flight number
MU-777

Departure
Kunming, China

Destination
Sydney, Australia

Aircraft Registration
B-5921

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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