Boeing 757-200 N516AT

Summary

On 18 April 2002 at about 21:35 local time, a Boeing 757-200 registered N516AT was involved in an accident near Springfield, Missouri, United States. 126 people were on board and 3 were seriously injured, 12 had minor injuries. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 April 2002 at 21:35

Classification

Accident

Location

Springfield, Missouri, United States

Coordinates

37.4864, -93.4561

Aircraft

Boeing 757-200

Registration

N516AT

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Guadalajara → Chicago

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI02LA111

3 people were seriously injured.

The flightcrew's failure to follow weather avoidance prcedures and their delay in activating the seat belt sign. Factors were the turbulent thunderstorm weather conditions, and the failure of the National Weather Service to issue an applicable in-flight weather advisory.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The air carrier passenger flight encountered severe turbulence while in cruise flight. Three passengers were seriously injured and nine passengers and three flight attendants received minor injuries during the turbulence encounter. The remaining passengers and crew were not injured. The airplane was traveling in a predominately northern direction at 37,000 feet altitude during the encounter. Weather products obtained showed that extreme intensity thunderstorms existed in the area where the turbulence was encountered. Weather data and aircraft position radar data show that the airplane was 9 miles south-southwest of a cloud buildup that extended to 39,000 feet. Additionally, the airplane was 5 miles west of an extreme intensity radar echo associated with the thunderstorms in the area. The airline's General Operations Manual states that thunderstorms that are identified as severe, or giving a intense radar echo should be avoided by at least 20 miles. No National Weather Service aviation weather advisories were in effect for the location and time of the turbulence encounter. Communications transcripts show that the flight crew requested and were granted a course deviation for weather about 10 minutes prior to the upset. However, the Digital Flight Data Recorder shows that the seat belt sign was illuminated only 10 seconds prior to the encounter.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.