Boeing 737 724 N23708

Summary

On 15 March 2016 at about 02:56 local time, a Boeing 737 724 registered N23708, operated by United Airlines, was involved in an accident near Port Arthur, Texas, United States. 134 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

15 March 2016 at 02:56

Classification

Accident

Location

Port Arthur, Texas, United States

Coordinates

29.6867, -94.0381

Aircraft

Boeing 737 724

Registration

N23708

Category

Airplane

Year built

1998

Engines

2

Operator

United Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Houston → New Orleans

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA16CA181

1 person was seriously injured.

an inadvertent encounter with clear air turbulence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On March 14, 2016, 2156 central daylight time, United Airlines flight 898,a Boeing 737-724, N23708, encountered turbulence during cruise that resulted in one flight attendant sustaining a serious injury near Port Arthur, Texas.  There were no injuries to the other passengers and crew aboard 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 the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), Houston, Texas to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), New Orleans, Louisiana. According to flight crew statements, the captain was the flying pilot and the first officer (FO) was the pilot monitoring.  The airplane was level at flight level (FL) 270, with the autopilot off, in clear air with no convective activity in the vicinity.  Immediately before before beginning the descent into IAH, the flight encountered a momentary pocket of moderate to severe turbulence with the airplane banking approximately 25 – 30 degrees to the right, and the altitude fluctuating from 100 feet up to 60 - 160 feet down.  The flight crew did not recall seeing anything on the onboard weather radar or TCAS (traffic collision avoidance system).  The captain immediately turned on the seat belt sign and made an announcement on the public address for the passengers to fasten their seat belts. Shortly after, the flight crew were informed that a flight attendant FA was injured. The captain called the cabin and was informed that one of the FAs was severely injured.  The flight crew declared a medical emergency and arranged for paramedics to meet the flight at the gate.  The FA was transported to a local hospital and diagnosed with serious injuries. According to a weather analysis conducted by United Airlines, satellite imagery indicated no significant cloud features over the route of flight, with the moisture channel imagery indicating moisture channel darkening or drier air in the middle tropospheric levels across the northern half of Texas and southern Los Angeles with increasing moisture further to the south with the stronger jet stream winds.  A review of pilot reports (PIREPs) across the region leading up to the turbulence only indicated light turbulence being encountered.  Consequently, The Weather Company forecasts only called for light turbulence for the route.  However, several Aircraft Meteorological Data and Reporting (AMDAR) automated reports across the region indicated that winds were stronger than predicted at higher levels and indicated a strong vertical wind shear at higher levels than originally forecast.  

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.