Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cape Canaveral, Florida 00000
Wednesday, October 3, 1990 20:08 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
EASTERN AIRLINE FLT 791 ENCTRD TURBULENCE WHILE EN ROUTE AT 31,000 FT AS IT FLEW THRU THE OVERHANG OF A THUNDERSTORM. FLT THRU OVERHANGS WAS CONTRARY TO THE COMPANY FLT OPNS PROCEDURES. THREE PSGRS RCVD SERIOUS INJURIES & ONE OF THESE (84 YRS OLD) DIED 20 DAYS AFTER THE ACDNT. THE MEDICAL EXAMINER LISTED THE CAUSE OF DEATH AS 'ASPIRATION PNEUMONIA AND PNEUMOTHORAX DUE TO BLUNT TRAUMA DUE TO COMMERCIAL AIRLINE TURBULENCE ENCOUNTER.' CONTRIBUTING TO THE DEATH WAS 'OCCLUSIVE CORONARY ATHEROSCLEROSIS.' ALSO, 23 PSGRS RCVD MINOR INJURIES. ACCORDING TO FLT ATTENDANTS, ALL INJURED PSGRS WERE EITHER STANDING IN THE AISLE OR LAVARATORIES OR IN SEATS WITHOUT BELTS ON. THE SEAT BELT SIGN HAD BEEN ON SINCE DEPARTURE; BEFORE DEPARTURE, FLT ATTENDANTS HAD BRIEFED THE PSGRS TO REMAIN SEATED WITH BELTS ON AT ALL TIMES WHILE THE SEAT BELT LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. FLT ATTENDANTS INDCD THAT THEY HAD NOT ENFORCED THE SEAT BELT INSTRUCTION.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE CAPTAIN TO FOLLOW PROCEDURES, HIS IMPROPER IN-FLIGHT PLANNING/DECISION BY ALLOWING THE AIRCRAFT TO CONTINUE INTO THE OVERHANG (ANVIL) OF A THUNDERSTORM, FAILURE OF THE PASSENGERS TO ABIDE BY PROCEDURES/INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING USE OF SEAT BELTS, AND FAILURE OF THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS TO ENFORCE THE USE OF SEATBELTS. THE WEATHER CONDITION (TURBULENCE) WAS A RELATED FACTOR.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/3/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2008 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | CAPE CANAVERAL |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 00000 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2005 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 295 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | X68 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 3 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Moderate |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 23 |
| Injury Total None | 71 |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 26 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 2139 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 3 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2115 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 43585 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 18 2002 11:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8923E |
| NTSB Number | MIA91LA005 |
| 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-9-31 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DC-9-31 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | DC9-31 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 106000 |
| 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 | 99 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 48282 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EASTERN AIRLINES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | MIAMI INTERNATIONAL ARPT |
| Aircraft Owner City | MIAMI |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33148 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | EASTERN AIR LINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT |
| Operator City | MIAMI |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 33159 |
| Operator Code | EALA |
| 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 | DCA |
| Departure City | WASHINGTON |
| Departure State | DC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PBI |
| Destination City | WEST PALM BEACH |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 20 2002 12:42PM |
| 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 | -- |