Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina 27623
Monday, July 11, 2005 19:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The captain stated that after takeoff he waited until FL370, and well past the line of weather, to turn off the seat belt light. The flight was smooth for about 10 to 15 minutes, and they transited in and out of cirrus clouds, with the weather radar being used to scan from the 160 to 40 mile range, and with no weather being noted. As the flight progressed he said they encountered moderate turbulence for about 10 to 15 seconds, and he immediately made an announcement for the flight attendants and passengers to sit. Shortly thereafter the captain said he was informed that a flight attendant had been injured. The first officer stated that as the flight climbed they easily transited between two cells, entered clear skies, and was in smooth air. The seat belt sign had been turned off, and the captain continued searching the area with the weather radar. The first officer said that although there were some intermittent high cirrus clouds, there was no weather that would pose problems along the route of flight. About 10 to15 minutes after level-off, the first officer said the airplane hit what he would call severe turbulence, and both he and the captain were tossed about in their seats. They were initially unable to either grab the flight controls, or turn on the seat belt sign, and after the initial big bump, the first officer said "he grabbed the controls (it was my leg), and followed through with the thrust levers and yoke." According to the first officer, as soon as able the captain turned on the seat belt sign, made the announcement for everyone to sit down, and they soon heard a flight attendant make an announcement asking for a doctor. All flight attendants provided statements that were consistent, affirming that there had been turbulence, and that the seat belt sign was not lit during the turbulence prior to the accident. The NTSB conducted studies of airplane's DFDR, as well a study of the weather around the time of the accident. Examination of the DFDR revealed information affirming that the autopilot had been engaged, and consistent with there having been an encounter with turbulence. The weather study examined many weather products and provided data consistent with there being convectively induced turbulence in the vicinity of strong to severe thunderstorms.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An inadvertent in-flight encounter with clear air turbulence.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/11/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Raleigh-Durham |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27623 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0804000W |
| 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 | 1917 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 215 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CLT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 748 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 18000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| 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 | 186 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23551 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Delta |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 11 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 11 2009 9:18AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N113DA |
| NTSB Number | DCA05MA083 |
| 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 | 767-232 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 22225 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 300000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 204 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 68537 |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1020 Delta Blvd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Atlanta |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30320 |
| 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 | DALA |
| 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 | ATL |
| Departure City | Atlanta |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1829 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LGA |
| Destination City | New York |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2008 8:19AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SCHD |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |