Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Beaumont, Texas 77705
Tuesady, February 19, 2002 18:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Boeing 737 departed into an area of known thunderstorms. After departure, at an altitude of 15,000 feet, the flight was operating in and out of clouds. The pilot reported that he was not receiving any significant weather radar returns ahead of the airplane. However, as he cleared a layer of clouds, he observed a cumulus cloud that was ahead of the airplane. The cloud was too close to avoid and he flew through the top of the cloud. While in the cloud, the airplane encountered turbulence which threw a flight attendant located in the rear of the airplane into the air, and he subsequently fell and fractured his ankle. The captain had briefed the crew prior to departure, but did not include any specific comments about delaying the start of cabin service until clear of the thunderstorms, nor was he specifically required to. The airline had no written direction for the flight attendants to know when they could leave their seats and begin cabin service.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An inadvertent encounter with convective induced turbulence, which injured a flight attendant. Factors were the failure of the airline to supply direction to the flight crew to indicate when the flight attendants could begin cabin service, and the convective induced turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/19/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Beaumont |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77705 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 300413N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0941254W |
| 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 | 1843 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BPT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 16 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 900 |
| 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) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.82 |
| 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 | 74 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13003 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Continental Airlines |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 22 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 17 2003 10:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dulles, Virginia |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N24736 |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA065 |
| 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 | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | 737-724 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28803 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 154500 |
| 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 | 129 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 2 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 433.35 |
| Airframe Hours | 8935.5 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Continental Airlines Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1600 Smith St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77002 |
| 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 | COAA |
| 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/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | IAH |
| Departure City | Houston |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1811 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DCA |
| Destination City | Washington |
| Destination State | DC |
| 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 | Nov 22 2002 10:48AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |