Boeing 777 N797AN

Summary

On 25 July 2004 at about 05:15 local time, a Boeing 777 registered N797AN, operated by American Airlines Inc, was involved in an accident near Miami, Florida, United States. 217 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 July 2004 at 05:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Miami, Florida, United States

Coordinates

25.7798, -80.2002

Aircraft

Boeing 777

Registration

N797AN

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

American Airlines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Miami → Sao Paulo

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA04MA061

1 person was seriously injured.

the in-flight encounter with unforecasted clear air turbulence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight encountered unforecasted clear air turbulence while the flight attendants were providing meal service to the passengers. Several of the flight attendants were thrown to the floor by the turbulence, and a flight attendant operating in the rear of the airplane received a fractured left shoulder. The autopilot was engaged at the time of the event, and there were no pilot inputs during the turbulence encounter. Statements from the captain (the flying pilot) and the first officer indicated that the event involved clear air turbulence that lasted 3-4 seconds. The captain characterized the turbulence encounter as "moderate" and being similar to a wake turbulence encounter because of the extremely short duration. He indicated that there were no aircraft in front of them and the nearest thunderstorms were greater than 20 miles to the northwest. The first officer added that they had received no turbulence warnings from other aircraft and that they were clear of all weather.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.