Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

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Wednesday, January 15, 2003 16:43 PST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The Dassault Aviation Falcon 900EX, crewed by two airline transport rated pilots, and accompanied by four passengers, had departed Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, en route to Honolulu International airport, Honolulu, Hawaii. The aircraft climbed to FL 340 and was then cleared to FL 360 as it progressed along airway A332. As the flight proceeded, it encountered intermittent light to occasionally moderate turbulence and the crew made repeated requests for a higher altitude through Air Traffic Control, but the requests were not approved. A little more than half way into the flight, the aircraft's track began to converge obliquely with a cold frontal system extending southwest through the Hawaiian Islands, and the aircraft encountered headwinds of more than 100 knots approximately 30 degrees right of the aircraft's track. Approximately 4 hours 17 minutes into the flight, the aircraft was operating in the tops of clouds with good visibility when a passenger and her attendant left their seats to use the lavatory located in the rear of the aircraft. During this time the aircraft encountered moderate turbulence for a period of ten seconds or less and the attendant sustained a fractured ankle. Immediately following the event the crew requested and received approval for a climb to FL 370.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The aircraft's encounter with moderate turbulence in cruise.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/15/2003
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1643
Event Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Event City --
Event State PACIFIC OCEAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 302500N
Event Location Longitude 1472500W
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -55
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 235
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 127
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 5
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14363
NTSB Notification Source Pilot
NTSB Notification Date Jan 21 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1030
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Seattle FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N11WM
NTSB Number SEA03LA029
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Dassault Aviation
Aircraft Model Falcon 900EX
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 058
Certified Max Gross Weight 49200
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 --
Number of Engines 3
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Dec 11 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 21
Airframe Hours 898
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name AZAAIR, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 1717
Aircraft Owner City Bellevue
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98009
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Pistol Creek Financial Co.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 6801A Perimeter Road
Operator City Seattle
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98108
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
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 --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BFI
Departure City Seattle
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1226
Departure Time Zone PST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code HNL
Destination City Honolulu
Destination State HI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 13 2003 12:45PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --