Airbus A319 132 N827AW

Summary

On 14 February 2016 at about 22:35 local time, a Airbus A319 132 registered N827AW, operated by American Airlines, was involved in an accident near Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. 105 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

14 February 2016 at 22:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Coordinates

44.8819, -93.2217

Aircraft

Airbus A319 132

Registration

N827AW

Category

Airplane

Year built

2001

Engines

2

Operator

American Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Phoenix → Minneapolis

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA16CA089

1 person was seriously injured.

an encounter with turbulence that resulted in a serious injury to a passenger who was standing when the fasten seatbelt sign was illuminated.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On February 14, 2016, about 04:35 central standard time, American Airlines flight 476, an Airbus A319, N827AW, encountered turbulence during the initial descent to Minneapolis International Airport (MSP), Minneapolis, Minnesota. Of the 100 passengers and crew onboard, one passenger received serious injuries.  The airplane was not damaged. The regularly scheduled passenger flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Phoenix, Arizona, to MSP. The flight crew stated that at FL350, prior to their planned top-of-descent, Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) informed them to expect light turbulence during the descent through about FL280. The captain made a public address announcement to the passengers and cabin crew to expect light turbulence so to fasten their seatbelts. The seatbelt sign was on at that time, and had been on most of the flight due to light turbulence.  As the flight was descending through about FL310, the nose of the airplane dipped down and the airspeed increased, and to avoid an overspeed the pilot flying pitched the nose up and deployed the speed brakes. Subsequently, they received a call from the flight attendants that a passenger had been injured after having stood up "to stretch" just before the turbulence.  After arriving at the gate, the passenger was transported to the hospital and diagnosed with a broken leg.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.