Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Orlando International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Orlando, Florida 32801
Wednesday, November 6, 2002 9:45 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the Captain, the airplane encountered a moderate bump of turbulence, about one second in duration. He stated that the airplane was skimming a broken layer of clouds with about 2,000 feet of vertical buildup. He stated that the preparation for landing public address was given about six minutes before the airplane encountered the turbulence. According to the Captain, there was "nothing on the radar or visual observation of the sky condition to suggest any more than light turbulence. The number one flight attendant stated the Captain told the flight attendants that there might be turbulence ahead and for them to clean up and sit down. She stated that they were in the process of cleaning up "when it got really bad," and she had to hold onto the seatback. She stated that she saw the number two flight attendant's legs extending into the aisle. The number one flight attendant stated that the number two flight attendant had fallen onto her ankle and she helped her into her seat. At the gate, emergency personnel put a splint on her ankle and transported her to the hospital, where it was later discovered that her ankle was broken.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The airplane's inflight encounter with turbulence that resulted in injuries to the number two flight attendant.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/6/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Orlando |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32801 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 282544N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811858W |
| Event Location Airport | Orlando International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MCO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 35 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 137 |
| Airport Elevation | 96 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 956 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LEE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 77 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 700 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.92 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1112 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| 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 | 75 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16817 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 6 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1019 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA Orlando FSDO - 15 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N479AA |
| NTSB Number | ATL03LA014 |
| 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 | MD-82 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 49654 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 160000 |
| 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 | 131 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| 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 | American Airlines, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | Mail Drop 4280-CPIV |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dallas |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75261 |
| 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 | AALA |
| 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 | DFW |
| Departure City | Dallas |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 637 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MCO |
| Destination City | Orlando |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2004 3:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |