Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Los Angeles International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Los Angeles, California 90045
Monday, September 13, 2004 20:03 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A flight attendant sustained serious injuries when the Boeing 737 transport category airplane encountered wake turbulence while following behind a Boeing 747 on approach. The injured flight attendant was standing in the aft galley at the time of the event. Air traffic controllers issued a wake turbulence caution to the 737, which was level at 10,000 feet and trailing behind a 747 that was also level at 10,000 feet. According to the accident flight crew, they trailed behind the 747 by 5 miles; however, they still experienced a sudden and violent roll to the left of about 35 degrees. The flight crew righted the airplane and offset their flight path to the north of the 747's flight path. The airplane then landed uneventfully. Review of the aircraft's flight data recorder information revealed the fasten seat belt sign was illuminated and the passengers were all seated at the time of the event. However, the cabin attendants were not yet seated for landing. The Federal Aviation Administration's recommended procedures for avoiding wake turbulence while following another airplane (stay either on or above the preceding aircraft's flight path, upwind, or at least 1,000 feet below) was being followed at the time of the upset.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the flight's encounter with the wake turbulence from a preceding heavy airplane while on approach.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/13/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2003 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Los Angeles |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90045 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 335633N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182429W |
| Event Location Airport | Los Angeles International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LAX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 8 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 126 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2003 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LAX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 126 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| 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 | 46 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19011 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 15 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1205 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-LAX-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N601WN |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA318 |
| 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 | 737-3H4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27695 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 139000 |
| 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 | 145 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 10 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 792 |
| Airframe Hours | 32767 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Southwest Airlines Co |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2833 Shorecrest Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Dallas |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75235 |
| 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 | SWAA |
| 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 | SLC |
| Departure City | Salt Lake City |
| Departure State | UT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1915 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LAX |
| Destination City | Los Angeles |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 21 2005 5:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24R |
| Runway Length | 8925 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |