Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlanta, Georgia 30320
Wednesday, September 20, 2000 17:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was descending out of FL290, when it encountered severe turbulence. The first officer was the pilot flying at the time, the speed brakes were extended, the airspeed was 290 knots, and weather radar was in use, with no indications of conditions associated with turbulence. There were no reports of turbulence from either air traffic control (ATC), or other aircraft. The seat belt sign was "ON" for 10 minutes prior to the accident. At the time of the accident the flight attendants were in the galleys and aisles performing cabin duties associated with the beginning of descent. When the turbulence was encountered, they were thrown initially upward, and then deposited into various positions on the floor and seats. Passengers who had not fastened their seat belts were also thrown vertically upward, and then back down. The flight was provided priority handling for landing, and landed at Atlanta without further incident. According to the flight attendants the flight had encountered "a little chop" while climbing. The "fasten seatbelt" sign was off until they encountered an area of moderate turbulence when the "fasten seatbelt" sign came on and the captain made an announcement. The sign did not go out for the remainder of the flight. The flight attendants had just finished the beverage service and the galley carts were being restocked. The airplane "buffeted for 4-6 seconds." Three flight attendants in the aft galley were "pretty badly hurt." Five flight attendants and three passengers were transported to area hospitals for their injuries.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
an in-flight encounter with turbulence in clouds during a normal descent, resulting in serious injuries.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/20/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ATLANTA |
| Event State | GEORGIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 30320 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | 1755 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 295 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| 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) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 86 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 72 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| 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) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| 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 | 17 |
| Injury Total None | 230 |
| Injury Total Serious | 3 |
| Injury Total All | 20 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10749 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SE REG COM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 20 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 17 2001 9:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N172DZ |
| NTSB Number | MIA00LA267 |
| 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 | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 767-332ER |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 767-332ER |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 29691 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 407000 |
| 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 | 267 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 6 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 146 |
| Airframe Hours | 3952 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DELTA AIRLINES INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | HARTSFIELD ATL INTNAL DEPT 509 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ATLANTA |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30320 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | DALA |
| 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 | Domestic |
| 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 | FLL |
| Departure City | FORT LAUDERDALE |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1625 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | ATL |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | GA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 28 2001 4:00AM |
| 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 | -- |