Boeing 777-232 N863DA

Summary

On 12 July 2013 at about 09:38 local time, a Boeing 777-232 registered N863DA, operated by Delta Air Lines Inc, was involved in an accident near Atlanta, Georgia, United States. 279 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

12 July 2013 at 09:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

33.9100, -84.0831

Aircraft

Boeing 777-232

Registration

N863DA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Delta Air Lines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dubai → Atlanta

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

DCA13CA128

1 person was seriously injured.

Unexpected encounter with convective turbulence while the flight attendants were preparing the cabin for arrival.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the flight and cabin crew statements, Atlanta Approach Control advised the crew that radar was showing an area of rain on the arrival route although the flight crew did not see any areas of precipitation on the airborne weather radar. During the descent to 11,000 feet the seatbelt sign was illuminated and the captain, who was the pilot monitoring, cycled the seatbelt sign and called the flight attendant (FA) at the 1L door via the interphone to notify the cabin crew to be seated.   Before the 1L flight attendant was able to relay the message to all of the FAs to be seated, as they were all preparing the cabin for arrival, the airplane encountered several distinct jolts of turbulence. According to the flight data recorder data, as the airplane was descending through about 13,200 feet, the vertical acceleration fluctuated between +1.56 g's and +0.024 g's over a period of about 10 seconds. During the turbulence the 4Rc FA who was in the aisle near the 3R door was lifted into the air and fell back down to the floor on her feet and knees.  The FA was assisted to the 3R jumpseat, the flight crew was notified of the injury, and they requested paramedics meet the airplane upon arrival  The 4Rc FA was transported to the hospital where she was diagnosed with two broken ankles.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.