Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Charlotte, North Carolina 28204
Sunday, August 3, 2003 22:07 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The MD-82 encountered turbulence in the vicinity of Charlotte, North Carolina, and one passenger received serious injuries. The captain stated that the ride had been smooth, and there had been occasional light chop. He further stated that the seat belt sign was off, and approximately 7 people were standing at the time of the incident, including the three flight attendants. He said the flight was at FL310, in night visual meteorological conditions, with stars and ground lights visible, and that radar showed a clear flight path, with a significant line of storms approximately 30 miles east of their course. According to the captain, about 2207,the airplane entered instrument meteorological conditions and quickly encountered moderate chop, followed by a very sharp jolt. He said he had immediately turned on the fasten seatbelt sign after the first jolt, and they then received two more sharp jolts. He said that rain and Saint Elmo's were present, and he turned the airplane to the right, back towards where they had last seen ground lights and then informed FAA Air Traffic Control Jacksonville Center of the turn and ride condition. In about 30 seconds, he said the ride became smooth with some light chop, and they entered visual meteorological conditions again. The NTSB examined radar and weather data pertinent to the flight, and the data revealed that when the accident airplane's flight path for the period of the flight was overlaid with infrared satellite imagery, about 2145, there was an isolated thunderstorm with an estimated cloud top of about 36,000 feet in the vicinity of GLOVR intersection. In addition, additional data at 2202, and 2215, showed that the thunderstorm cloud tops had gotten higher, and the thunderstorms had expanded outward and moved northeast along the airplane's track. Digital Doppler weather radar data for Greer, South Carolina, when evaluated with respect to the turbulence times, showed reflectivity echoes in the vicinity of the turbulence location, and the reflectivity’s varied from VIP level 1 (very light) to VIP level 5 (intense). Reflectivity cross sections of radar data along the flight track showed the maximum radar tops which the flight penetrated to be about 40,000 feet. Examination of the airplane's Flight Data Recorder provided data that showed altitude changes, and fluctuations in vertical and lateral acceleration, consistent with other information. Both the NTSB Meteorological, and Flight Data Recorder Factual Group Chairman's reports, have added as attachments.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot-in-command's failure to sufficiently deviate to avoid known weather, and his failure to activate the seatbelt sign to ensure flight attendants and passengers were seated, which resulted in a passenger receiving serious injuries when the flight encountered turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/3/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2207 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Charlotte |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28204 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 353024N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801451W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2151 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CLT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 13000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2800 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| 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 | 133 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17784 |
| NTSB Notification Source | AA Flight Safety |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 4 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1115 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Tampa, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7527A |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA155 |
| 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 | 49919 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 150500 |
| 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 | 136 |
| 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 | Wilmington Trust |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1100 N Market St |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19890 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | American Airlines, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4333 Amon Carter Blvd. |
| Operator City | Fort Worth |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 76155 |
| 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 | LGA |
| Departure City | New York City |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2015 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | TPA |
| Destination City | Tampa |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 5 2005 1:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| 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 | -- |