Boeing 737 824 N24202

Summary

On 14 December 2016 at about 01:47 local time, a Boeing 737 824 registered N24202, operated by United Airlines, was involved in an accident near Denver, Colorado, United States. 174 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

14 December 2016 at 01:47

Classification

Accident

Location

Denver, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

39.8600, -104.6700

Aircraft

Boeing 737 824

Registration

N24202

Category

Airplane

Year built

2000

Engines

2

Operator

United Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Francisco → Denver

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

IMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA17CA042

1 person was seriously injured.

An inadvertent encounter with mountain wave turbulence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On December 13, 2016, at 1847 mountain standard time, United Airlines flight 1545, a Boeing 737-800, N24202, experienced turbulence during descent that resulted in one flight attendant sustaining a serious injury.  There were no injuries to the other passengers and crew onboard and the airplane was not damaged.  The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight from San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California to Denver International Airport (DEN), Colorado.  The flight landed at DEN with no further incident. According to the operator, weather forecasts indicated that mountain wave turbulence was expected over the Sierra Nevada mountains and moderate turbulence was forecast for the descent in to DEN below 17,000 feet.  As the airplane descended through approximately FL270 the captain advised the flight attendants "it's going to get bumpy" and to be seated. The flight crew reported that passing through approximately FL220 the airplane experienced increasing turbulence and then at about FL200 experienced a "big jolt."  The flight attendant in position 2L was securing the galley at the time of the turbulence and was thrown to the ceiling and then struck her face on the galley counter while falling to the floor.  She suffered multiple injuries including a large gash to her cheek and a fractured facial bone.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.