Boeing 757-232 N644DL

Summary

On 12 July 2001 at about 01:30 local time, a Boeing 757-232 registered N644DL was involved in an accident near San Francisco, California, United States. 100 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 July 2001 at 01:30

Classification

Accident

Location

San Francisco, California, United States

Nearest airport

San Francisco International (SFO)

Coordinates

37.6189, -122.3747

Aircraft

Boeing 757-232

Registration

N644DL

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cincinnati → San Francisco

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX01LA307

1 person was seriously injured.

the captain's excessive use of the flight controls to level off from a descent, which resulted in a passenger injury.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The air carrier transport airplane experienced an abrupt maneuver during its initial descent. The first officer reported that the flight crew had been cleared to descend from FL 390 to FL 330. The captain initiated the descent and the first officer began programming the flight management system. The first officer looked up as the airplane was flying past FL330 and queried the captain. The captain then immediately pulled the aircraft out of the descent and leveled off at FL330. Shortly thereafter, the flight crew was notified of a passenger injury resulting from the event. The captain reported to the passengers that they encountered turbulence. All of the flight attendants reported a smooth flight prior to the event. The captain had illuminated the fasten seat belt sign, but no one could remember an announcement accompanying the sign illumination. All of the flight attendants and an injured passenger, who was in the lavatory at the time of the event, described being pushed downward during the occurrence. There were no flight data recorders, cockpit voice recorders, or air traffic control recordings to review, because the Safety Board was not notified of the accident until almost 1 year after the event.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.