Wayne County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Detroit, Michigan 48242
Wednesday, July 25, 2001 12:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

An off duty flight attendant received a broken ankle when the airplane encountered moderate turbulence during descent. The captain reported the seat belt sign had been turned on and a passenger announcement was made regarding the likelyhood of encountering turbulence. The captain reported that light turbulence was encountered followed by moderate turbulence between an altitude of 18,000 feet and 12,000 feet. The injured off duty flight attendant reported, "Just before the descent began into Detroit, several passengers went to the lavatory and returned with no difficulty. I chose to give all other passengers the opportunity to go before I did. The flight was continuing smoothly as I made my way from my seat on the right side of the exit row, aft to the lavatory. While returning to my seat, the aircraft began to encounter some moderate turbulence as is normal while descending. I held to the seat backs to support myself as I walked forward toward my seat. As I neared my seat, the aircraft encountered a severe pocket of air with absolutely no warning whatsoever. I was lifted into the air as the aircraft dipped, then falling to the floor of the cabin. I could tell immediately that my ankle was broken because of its angle, and the terrible pain." A review of the flight data recorder data revealed the vertical acceleration of the airplane between 14,429 feet and 11,114 feet varied between .56 g's and 1.39 g's.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The passenger (an off duty flight attendant) disregarded the flight crews warning regarding turbulence along with the seat belt sign which had been turned on.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/25/2001
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1210
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Detroit
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 48242
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Wayne County
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DTW
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 1154 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID DTW
Elevation of weather observation facility 640
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 18000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 26
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 30
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.93
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 96
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11734
NTSB Notification Source Northwest Airlines
NTSB Notification Date Jul 26 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1527
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 3 2002 12:16PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Detroit, MI FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N780NC
NTSB Number CHI01LA245
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name McDonnell Douglas
Aircraft Model DC-9-51
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 9871
Certified Max Gross Weight 121000
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 130
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Northwest Airlines, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5101 Northwest Drive
Aircraft Owner City St. Paul
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55111
Operator is an individual? No
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 NWAA
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code ATL
Departure City Atlanta
Departure State GA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1048
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code DTW
Destination City Detroit
Destination State MI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 10 2002 10:09AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --