Boeing 737-300 N648SW

Summary

On 25 April 2007 at about 23:35 local time, a Boeing 737-300 registered N648SW was involved in an accident near La Plata, Maryland, United States. 103 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

25 April 2007 at 23:35

Classification

Accident

Location

La Plata, Maryland, United States

Coordinates

38.4547, -77.0497

Aircraft

Boeing 737-300

Registration

N648SW

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Birmingham → Baltimore

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

NYC07LA105

1 person was seriously injured.

An in-flight encounter with turbulence and the flight crew's failure to advise the cabin crew about potential forecast turbulence, as reported by the flight attendant.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight was descending through a layer of broken clouds during approach for landing when it encountered turbulence. A flight attendant who was standing in the aft galley sustained a fractured ankle. The weather packet issued to the flight crew contained airmen's meteorological information which warned of moderate turbulence for altitudes below 12,000 feet in the accident location. The operator's procedures required the flight crew to brief the cabin crew prior to each flight regarding the forecast turbulence for the trip, but the injured flight attendant stated that the briefing did not contain any significant turbulence potential information, and that there were not any en route turbulence updates.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.