Aerospatiale ATR-72-212 N630AS

Summary

On 20 November 2000 at about 21:00 local time, a Aerospatiale ATR-72-212 registered N630AS was involved in an accident near Ashevelle, North Carolina, United States. 40 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

20 November 2000 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Ashevelle, North Carolina, United States

Coordinates

35.5909, -82.5590

Aircraft

Aerospatiale ATR-72-212

Registration

N630AS

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Atlanta → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA01LA030

1 person was seriously injured.

the flight encountered forecasted turbulence, which resulted in serious injury to a flight attendant. Factors in this accident were; the captain's inadequate briefing to the cabin crew; and the insufficient information about the known turbulence that would be encountered during descent.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

At 10,000 feet msl, while maneuvering for landing, the flight encountered an area of moderate turbulence. The seat belt sign was 'ON' and the flight attendants were performing pre-landing duties. One of the flight attendants broke a bone during the turbulence event. The captain was not informed about the injured flight attendant until he walked to the back of the aircraft after arriving at the gate. According to the injured flight attendant (F/A-A), she was briefed '...only [that it]...would be a little rough getting out of Atlanta, but once we got up everything would be ok...no warning from the cockpit at all of rough air/turbulence' Both flight attendants were knocked to the floor to a sitting position, and both said the turbulence didn't stop. The injured flight attendant said, 'I...was knocked to the floor over and over...up into the service door and the passenger door; my head hit the steps and ended up on the floor flat down...I stayed on the floor...no bells were given when the aircraft was descending...the only 4 bells I heard was at landing time. Also no announcements from [the] cockpit was made when descending through 10,000 feet to the passengers because we were in 0.75 moderate turbulence at the time.' SIGMET [significant metrological] November 2, and AIRMET (Airmen Meteorological Information Network) Tango update 3, calling for a large area of moderate turbulence below 12,000 feet, were current and applicable to the flight's descent into Ashville. The company verified that both the SIGMET and AIRMET were part of the captain's weather briefing, and he had them both in his possession before departure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.