Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Miami International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Miami, Florida 33159
Tuesady, February 25, 2003 16:16 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While descending into Miami, the flight crew began deviating "well" south of a few small cumulous developments. They had begun reducing speed to turbulence penetration "prior to encountering a few pockets of light chop at about FL240." The captain gave a "PA to the FA'S and passengers leaving FL180, asking that the cabin be prepared for landing early, due to possible chop during our approach." They encountered a very brief pocket of moderate chop. The seatbelt sign was on, the cabin crew was in the process of securing the cabin for landing, and the purser had made the announcement for passengers to prepare for landing right after the captain's pre-landing announcement. Several minutes after the event, the number one flight attendant, advised the captain that two of the flight attendants in the aft part of the airplane had been injured during the turbulence event. A convective SIGMET was valid for Florida and coastal waters at the time of the turbulence encounter. Radar images from the Miami Weather Surveillance Radar (WSR-88D) identified multiple storm cells in the area at the time of the turbulence encounter. The radar data indicated that the core intensity of these cells was strong to intense (40 to 50 dBZ). A radar image taken about the time of the turbulence encounter shows the airplanes path came about five nautical miles from the core of one cell and three nautical miles from the core of a second cell. During this event, the airplane experienced a 2.04 g vertical acceleration load, 6 degree of left roll and a pitch change from -0.4 degrees to -2.1 degrees.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight crew's inadvertent encounter with turbulence while attempting to maneuver through an area of convective activity during descent.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/25/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1616 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Miami |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33159 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 255659N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0811509W |
| Event Location Airport | Miami International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | MIA |
| 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 | 1556 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 100 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMIA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 8 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 53 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 12000 |
| 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 | 131 |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16570 |
| NTSB Notification Source | American Airlines |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 26 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1505 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Miami FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N790AN |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA067 |
| 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 | 777-223 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30251 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 656000 |
| 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 | 310 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 23 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 9809 |
| 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 | 4333 Amon Carter Blvd. 5569 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Worth |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76155 |
| 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 | KDFW |
| Departure City | Arlington |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1356 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KMIA |
| Destination City | Miami |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 17 2004 3:06PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| 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 | -- |