Boeing 737-242C N746AS
4 March 1998 · Reno, Nevada, United States · Serious injuries
Summary
On 4 March 1998 at about 21:15 local time, a Boeing 737-242C registered N746AS was involved in an accident near Reno, Nevada, United States. 116 people were on board and one was seriously injured, 5 had minor injuries. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.
The record
- Date
- at 21:15
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Reno, Nevada, United States
- Coordinates
- 39.4802, -119.7407
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737-242C
- Registration
- N746AS
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 2
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 121: Air Carrier
- Purpose of flight
- Unknown
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Seattle → Las Vegas
- Aircraft damage
- Not recorded
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- LAX98LA104
People
1 person was seriously injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 116 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 110 |
Probable cause
Unforecasted and sudden encounter with clear air turbulence when passengers and flight attendants were not secured in their seats.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The fight encountered severe clear air turbulence en route at flight level 350 and diverted to Reno, Nevada.. There were no reports of clear air turbulence from other pilots nor was it forecasted. The seat belt signs were off at the time. A review of the flight data recorder indicated that, for the period involved, vertical acceleration (Nz) varied from +1g to +1.5g to -0.07g to +1.3g to +0.86g over a 6-second period. The recorded data also indicated that atmospheric stability existed at flight level 350 several minutes prior to the turbulent onset. There was little or no warning given to the flight crew of the impending turbulent conditions.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Boeing 737 accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Mar 1998 | Boeing 737-205 | Anchorage, Alaska, United States | Arco Alaska, Inc. | No injuries | - |
| 5 May 1998 | Boeing 737-200 | Havana, Cuba | Taca Group Airlines | No injuries | - |
| 14 Aug 1998 | Boeing 737-400 | Juneau, Alaska, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 14 Dec 1998 | Boeing 737-300 | Sacramento, California, United States | America West Airlines, Inc. | Serious injuries | - |
| 8 Dec 1998 | Boeing 737 | New York, New York, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 13 Aug 1998 | Boeing 737-200 | Gatwick, United Kingdom | Caledonian Airlines | No injuries | - |
All 1,317 records for this type
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Aug 1998 | Piper PA-28-140 | Henderson, Nevada, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 4 Oct 1998 | Bell 222 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 26 Jul 1998 | Bellanca BL-17 | Winnemucca, Nevada, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 28 Jul 1998 | Aero Commander 690 | Ely, Nevada, United States | BLM, U.s. Dept of Interior | No injuries | - |
| 23 Feb 1998 | Beechcraft 100 | Reno, Nevada, United States | Victor Gonzales | No injuries | - |
| 17 Sep 1998 | Mooney M20C | Reno, Nevada, United States | - | No injuries | - |