Boeing 737 N852NN

Summary

On 5 February 2019 at about 13:47 local time, a Boeing 737 registered N852NN, operated by American Airlines, was involved in an accident near Bluefields, Nicaragua. 119 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 February 2019 at 13:47

Classification

Accident

Location

Bluefields, Nicaragua

Coordinates

12.0103, -83.7703

Aircraft

Boeing 737

Registration

N852NN

Category

Airplane

Year built

2010

Engines

2

Operator

American Airlines

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Alajuela → Miami

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

DCA19CA075

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 February 5, 2019, about 0733 central standard time, American Airlines flight 1204, N852NN, a Boeing 737-823, encountered severe turbulence during climb.  Of the 119 passengers and crew onboard, one flight attendant received a serious injury and another flight attendant received minor injuries.  The airplane was not damaged. The regularly scheduled international passenger flight was operating under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) San Jose, Costa Rica, to Miami International Airport (MIA), Miami, Florida. The captain was the pilot flying and the copilot was pilot monitoring. The flight was climbing through FL310 to the planned cruising altitude when the flight encountered moderate to severe clear air turbulence. According to the flight crew, the seatbelt sign was on when the turbulence occurred. The turbulence subsided after about one and a half minutes and occurred during daylight, in visual meteorological conditions, and with no indications of convective weather in the area. At the time of the turbulence, two flight attendants (FA) had just started to prepare for beverage service in the aft galley when they were thrown to the floor. Both FAs crawled to the last row of seats as the turbulence continued. The two FAs were then assisted for the remainder of the flight by to passenger medical professionals. After landing, the FAs were transported to the hospital where one was diagnosed with a broken foot and the other with minor bruises.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.