Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Washington National Arpt Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rockville, Virginia 23146
Sunday, November 17, 2002 18:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 3 hours before takeoff, the dispatcher approved the flight release, which contained SIGMET Whiskey 8 for occasional severe turbulence from 14,000 feet to FL 280, and then went off duty. The turbulence box overlaid the departure airport and planned en route climb to altitude; however, the top of descent (TOD) and destination airport were clear of the turbulence. When the pilot printed the flight release, SIGMET Whiskey 8, had been replaced with SIGMET Whiskey 9. The turbulence box had moved east of the departure airport, and the TOD and destination airport remained clear of the turbulence box. The flight release also contained a single pilot report of severe turbulence from a Boeing 737 at FL 240, within the defined area of turbulence. Prior to departure, but after the flight release was signed by the pilot, the flight release was updated again, this time with SIGMET Whiskey 10. The turbulence box moved further east to cover the TOD and destination airport. Nearing his destination, the pilot was descended into the turbulence box defined by both SIGMET Whiskey 9 and Whiskey 10. These turbulences boxes ranged from Ottawa, Canada, to Florida, to Cleveland, Ohio. The pilot had turned on the seat belt sign, asked the flight attendant to be seated, and had already made an announcement for the passengers to remain seated as they were within 30 minutes of the destination airport. While descending through 17,800 feet, the flight encountered severe turbulence. The airplane was not equipped with ACARS. Flight crews were required to monitor dispatch frequency for updates, and encouraged to get weather updates en route. Weather updates were accomplished by direct radio contact between the dispatcher and pilots, or by the pilots accessing FAA facilities while en route. Although the operator had about 100 flights operating in the turbulence box, none were cancelled due to forecast turbulence, or reported to have encountered severe turbulence.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The PIC's inadvertent encounter with turbulence while operating in an area of forecast occasional severe turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 11/17/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Rockville |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 23146 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 374330N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0774254W |
| Event Location Airport | Washington National Arpt |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DCA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 75 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 215 |
| Airport Elevation | 15 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1756 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 35 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DCA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 15 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 75 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.68 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 51 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15574 |
| NTSB Notification Source | EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 17 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Richmond, Virginia |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N868CA |
| NTSB Number | NYC03IA027 |
| 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 | Canadair |
| Aircraft Model | CL-600-2B19 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7427 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 53000 |
| 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 | 54 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 6 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 198.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 5127.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Comair |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 77 Comair Blvd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Erlanger |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 41018 |
| 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 | COMA |
| 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 | ATL |
| Departure City | Atlanta |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1702 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DCA |
| Destination City | Washington |
| Destination State | DC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 17 2004 10:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |