McDonnell Douglas DC10 N720AX

Summary

On 19 May 2008 at about 13:40 local time, a McDonnell Douglas DC10 registered N720AX, operated by Omni Air International, was involved in an accident near Pacific Ocean, United States. 162 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 4 had minor injuries. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 May 2008 at 13:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Pacific Ocean, United States

Coordinates

15.8333, 152.1417

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas DC10

Registration

N720AX

Category

Airplane

Engines

3

Operator

Omni Air International

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hololulu → Agana

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

NTSB number

DCA08FA062

1 person was seriously injured.

An inadvertent 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 captain stated that the ride had been smooth at their cruise altitude of 36,000 feet, and the seatbelt sign was off. He further stated that there was some thunderstorm activity, and some towering cumulus in the area, and that the airplane’s radar indicated the presence of a cell about 30 miles south of the airplane’s position, with tops that reached about 28,000 to 30,000 feet. He said they encountered an area of higher clouds, but the radar still did not indicate any activity, and within a few seconds they felt an initial bump, followed by "moderate" turbulence. He said he then turned the seatbelt sign on, and a short while later he was notified that there were some injured passengers and flight attendants. The NTSB’s Recorder Laboratory, Washington DC, read out the DFDR, and the data indicated that at 13:27:22 FDR Recorded GMT, at a pressure altitude of 36,000 feet, the vertical acceleration changed from 0.9 g’s to 1.8 g’s to -0.5 g’s to 1.7 g’s and then back to 0.9 g’s all within 3 seconds, consistent with clear air turbulence. See the NTSB DFDR Factual Report. In addition the NTSB conducted a meteorological study, using data to include synoptic, upper air, and satellite data. See the NTSB Meteorological Factual Report.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.