Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Needles, California 92363
Monday, August 20, 2001 1:04 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was assigned a routing to avoid thunderstorm activity. The seatbelt sign was illuminated, and the flight encountered moderate turbulence for approximately 5 seconds. One flight attendant, who was standing in the aft galley, struck her head and was knocked unconscious for approximately 5 minutes. The flightcrew communicated with the company, and the determination was made to continue to the destination. The flight attendant was unable to perform further duties. Upon arrival, the injured flight attendant was transported to the hospital for observation, where she remained for 48 hours. At the time of the accident convective SIGMET (Significant Meteorological Advisory) 12W was valid and stated: "…..AREA TS MOV LTL. TOPS ABV FL450." Area of thunderstorms moving very little. Tops above 45,000 feet mean sea level.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
an inadvertent in-flight encounter with turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/20/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 104 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Needles |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92363 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344557N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1142826W |
| 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 | 156 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EED |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 620 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.75 |
| 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 | 139 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11614 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB LAX |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 23 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1130 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2002 9:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N605AW |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA224 |
| 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 | Airbus Industrie |
| Aircraft Model | A320-232 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 543 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 210000 |
| 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 | 200 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| 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 | International Lease Finance Corp. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1999 Ave. of the Stars Fl 39 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Los Angeles |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 90067 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | America West Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Phoenix |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85005 |
| Operator Code | AWXA |
| 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 | LAS |
| Departure City | LAS VEGAS |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 45 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TPA |
| Destination City | Tampa |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 12 2002 8:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |