Boeing 747-200 N623FF

Summary

On 18 April 1998 at about 18:37 local time, a Boeing 747-200 registered N623FF, operated by Tower Air Inc., was involved in an accident near Atlantic Ocean. 419 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured, 18 had minor injuries. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 April 1998 at 18:37

Classification

Accident

Location

Atlantic Ocean

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Boeing 747-200

Registration

N623FF

Category

Airplane

Engines

4

Operator

Tower Air Inc.

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Paris, France → New York

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC98FA094

2 people were seriously injured.

The injured passengers failure to follow the directions to fasten their seat belts, prior to an encounter with clear air turbulence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight was crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Paris France, to New York, New York. The flight crew had been briefed on the possibility of encountering clear air turbulence. The seat belt sign was turned on about 30 to 45 minutes prior to the encounter, and announcements were made in both French and English for the passengers to fasten their seat belts. An additional announcement was made about 10 minutes before the encounter. Meal service was taking place in the main cabin and the flight attendants were not seated. The airplane encountered clear air turbulence and several unsecured passengers and flight attendants were tossed about. In addition two seat belt fitting failed under the loads. Metallurgical examination of the failed fittings found intergranular failure. A check of additional fittings revealed specified metallurgy.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.