Boeing 757-2G7 N910AW

Summary

On 3 April 2000 at about 03:06 local time, a Boeing 757-2G7 registered N910AW, operated by America West Airlines, Inc., was involved in an accident near Dallas, Texas, United States. 199 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 2 had minor injuries. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 April 2000 at 03:06

Classification

Accident

Location

Dallas, Texas, United States

Coordinates

32.4507, -99.7306

Aircraft

Boeing 757-2G7

Registration

N910AW

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

Orlando → Las Vegas

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

IMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX00LA146

1 person was seriously injured.

The en route cruise encounter with forecast moderate turbulence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While cruising at FL310, the captain observed on radar that the airplane was approaching a line of thunderstorm cells, which had been forecast. The captain advised the first flight attendant to expect turbulence. He turned on the fasten seat belt sign, and he directed that cabin service be suspended and the service carts stowed. The first flight attendant notified the other flight attendants of the captain's instructions. She stated that she directed them to "stop service and take their seats immediately." The flight attendants secured the cabin, which took a few minutes. However, they had not taken their seats when the airplane encountered several jolts of moderate turbulence. The airplane's flight data recorder indicated that within a 1/2-second period the vertical acceleration changed from -0.05G to +2.37Gs. The first flight attendant (front cabin) was knocked off her feet. The three flight attendants in the aft galley were thrown upward but did not strike the ceiling before coming back down and falling to the floor. One was seriously injured. The operator's "InFlight Operations Manual" required the flight crew to use standard terminology during briefings to the flight attendants. The descriptive terms include usage of the words "light, moderate, or severe" when describing expected turbulence. Neither the captain nor any of the flight attendants reported having used/heard these terms regarding the anticipated turbulence intensity.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.