Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
St. Louis International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Near St. Louis, Missouri 63074
Wednesday, May 26, 2004 17:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A flight attendant was seriously injured and a passenger received a minor injury when the airplane encountered turbulence during an arrival descent. The airplane was descending through 12,000 feet at 280 to 290 knots when it encountered an updraft. The captain reported they had just entered the cloud tops when they encountered an updraft that lasted about 2 seconds. The cockpit crew was then informed that a flight attendant in the rear of the airplane was thrown off her feet and injured. A passenger who was in the lavatory when the turbulence was encountered, reported that he hit his head. The flight crew declared an emergency. The flight was immediately cleared for an approach, and they were met by medical personnel after an uneventful landing. The passenger refused treatment. The flight attendant was transported to a hospital where it was determined that she suffered broken ribs, a fractured wrist, and pelvic fractures. According to crewmembers, the seatbelt sign was on when the turbulence was encountered. Although storms were not present along the flight path, SIGMETS had been issued for severe storms in the surrounding area. Approximately 15 minutes after this accident, another MD-80 reported severe turbulence along the same route.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The unexpected encounter with convective turbulence which resulted in a flight attendant being injured.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/26/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Near St. Louis |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 63074 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 384452N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0902136W |
| Event Location Airport | St. Louis International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | STL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 63 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 260 |
| Airport Elevation | 604 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1805 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 604 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 62 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4000 |
| 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) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| 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) | 29.75 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 86 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17275 |
| NTSB Notification Source | American Airlines |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 26 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 24 2005 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | St. Louis, MO FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N573AA |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA127 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | McDonnell Douglas |
| Aircraft Model | DC-9-82 (MD-82) |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 53092 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 149500 |
| 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 | 137 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 23 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 38987 |
| 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 | P.O. Box 619612 |
| Aircraft Owner City | DFW Airport |
| 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 | SNA |
| Departure City | Orange County |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1228 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | STL |
| Destination City | St. Louis |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| 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 | -- |