Airbus A319 N515NK

Summary

On 6 September 2019 at about 20:00 local time, a Airbus A319 registered N515NK, operated by Spirit Airlines Inc, was involved in an accident near Fort Myers, Florida, United States. 108 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

6 September 2019 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Fort Myers, Florida, United States

Coordinates

27.2492, -81.2778

Aircraft

Airbus A319

Registration

N515NK

Category

Airplane

Year built

2006

Engines

2

Operator

Spirit Airlines Inc

Operating rule

Part 121: Air Carrier

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cleveland → Fort Myers

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA19CA213

1 person was seriously injured.

an encounter with convectively induced turbulence associated with towering cumulus clouds during descent.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On September 6, 2019, about 1600 EDT, Spirit Airlines flight 967, an Airbus A319, N515NK, encountered turbulence during descent into Fort Myers Southwest Florida Airport (KRSW), Fort Myers, Florida.   Of the108 passengers and crew onboard, one flight attendant received serious injuries.  The airplane was not damaged. The flight was operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (KCLE), Cleveland, Ohio to KRSW.  According to the flight crew, the flight was descending through about 12,000 feet when the captain made the arrival announcement on the public address system (PA) “in anticipation of encountering turbulence due to a scattered layer of cumulous clouds.” The seat belt sign was illuminated.  According to the flight attendants (FA), the turbulence was encountered shortly after the captain’s PA, while the flight attendants were conducting final compliance checks in the cabin. One of the aft flight attendants fell to the floor during the encounter. She was unable to return to her jumpseat due to her injury and was assisted to a passenger seat in the aft cabin for landing.  The flight crew was notified of the FAs injury and requested that paramedics meet the airplane at the gate.  After landing, the injured FA was transported to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a fractured ankle. Post accident examination of the weather data determined that the turbulence occurred during day visual meteorological conditions when the airplane entered scattered cumulus congestus clouds (towering cumulus) associated with heavy rain showers and a sea breeze front. There was no lightning detected, pilot reports (PIREPs), or inflight weather advisories current for the area. 

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.