Airbus A-320-231 N628AW

Summary

On 17 September 1999 at about 04:47 local time, a Airbus A-320-231 registered N628AW, operated by America West Airlines, Inc., was involved in an accident near Beatty, Nevada, United States. 139 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 10 had minor injuries. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 September 1999 at 04:47

Classification

Accident

Location

Beatty, Nevada, United States

Coordinates

37.0899, -116.7894

Aircraft

Airbus A-320-231

Registration

N628AW

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

America West Airlines, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Seattle → Las Vegas

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Bright

NTSB number

LAX99LA323

1 person was seriously injured.

the failure of the injured passengers to remain seated with their seat belts fastened as directed by the captain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

While descending toward the destination airport, the pilot was deviating around thunderstorms and using his airborne radar to identify severe cells. It was a dark night and he was unable to make visual contact with the severe weather. The captain turned on the seat belt sign 45 minutes before the accident due to 'light chop' that he had encountered earlier in the flight. He made a PA announcement in which he told the passengers to return to their seats and to fasten their seat belts. About 20 minutes prior to the accident, he directed the flight attendants to suspend service and to secure the cabin. Once again, he made a PA announcement advising passengers of the increased chance of turbulence during the remainder of the flight. The aircraft encountered turbulence that lasted a few seconds with one large 'bump' that was accompanied by a sudden altitude gain that lasted a couple of seconds. After the event, flight attendants reported injuries to several passengers. According to the flight attendants, one or more of the injured passengers were out of the seats at the time of the turbulence encounter.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.