Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlantic Ocean
Friday, July 25, 1997 18:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane encountered in-flight turbulence and an aft cabin attendant was injured. The captain ensured the seat belt sign was 'ON,' briefed the in-flight director, and told the flight engineer to make sure the cabin attendants were seated. Three minutes before the turbulence encounter, the flight engineer briefed the forward cabin attendant of the anticipated turbulence, and told her to brief the rest of the cabin crew. After securing a portion of her galley, she only briefed the mid galley cabin crew, and assumed that the in-flight director had briefed the rest of the cabin crew. The in-flight director said by the time the cockpit called to advise of moderate turbulence and to sit, it was too late. The cabin attendants in the aft galley did not receive the briefing and their beverage carts were not secured. Shortly after the accident, the carrier published crew notification and procedure changes in their operations manuals for turbulence encounters and other in flight emergencies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the aft flight attendant to secure her seat belt. Related factors were turbulence in clouds, and the flight attendant not receiving the crew briefing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ATLANTIC OCEAN |
| Event State | ATLANTIC OCEAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1756 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JAX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 42 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 36 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | 320 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1634 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 28 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1121 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N831LA |
| NTSB Number | NYC97LA155 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC-10-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC-10-30 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 46936 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 565000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 324 |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 17 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 165 |
| Airframe Hours | 6409 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | POLARIS HOLDING COMPANY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 201 MISSION STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAN FRANCISCO |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94105 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | LAKER AIRWAYS, INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 6261 WEST 6TH WAY SUITE 201 |
| Operator City | FT. LAUDERDALE |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33309 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | International |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MCO |
| Departure City | ORLANDO |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1732 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EGPK |
| Destination City | PRESTWICK, SCOT |
| Destination State | OF |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |