Boeing 747-422 N174UA

Summary

On 19 February 2013 at about 15:00 local time, a Boeing 747-422 registered N174UA, operated by United Airlines, was involved in an accident near Pacific Ocean, Unknown. 221 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

19 February 2013 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Pacific Ocean, Unknown

Nearest airport

San Francisco International Ai (SFO)

Coordinates

20.2281, -139.2030

Aircraft

Boeing 747-422

Registration

N174UA

Category

Airplane

Engines

4

Operator

United Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sydney → San Franscisco

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13LA131

1 person was seriously injured.

The flight’s encounter with moderate clear air turbulence while en route, which resulted in a serious injury to a flight attendant. Contributing to the accident was the lack of communication equipment in the rest compartment, which, if installed, could have alerted the cabin crewmembers that the seatbelt sign was on. 

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight crew reported that the flight experienced unexpected light-to-moderate turbulence during cruise flight for about 3 hours. The seatbelt sign was illuminated, and the passengers and flight attendants had been seated. A flight attendant, who was on her rest break and was resting in the bunk room, reported that the turbulence had stopped for a while and that she thought she heard a "faint ding" indicating that the seatbelt sign had been turned off, so she went to the lavatory. However, the flight then encountered moderate turbulence, during which the flight attendant sustained a serious injury while walking from her bunk to the lavatory. The flight attendant reported that announcements made over the public address system could not be heard in the bunk room and that it was not always possible to hear when the seatbelt sign was turned on or off. It is likely that, if the flight attendant had a visual indication that the seatbelt sign was on, she would not have attempted to get up until safe movement was assured.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.