Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado 80249
Sunday, June 3, 2007 13:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The captain reported that the flight encountered moderate turbulence between 10,000 and 7,000 feet mean sea level during the approach to the airport. The approach and landing were normal. After landing, the flight crew was advised by the lead flight attendant that a flight attendant in the aft galley sustained serious injuries. The first officer reported that no turbulence was forecasted or reported during the descent. According to the injured flight attendant, she heard the double chime for the attendants to complete the final cabin check and then return to their respective seats. The attendant completed the check in a few minutes and was returning to the aft galley. The attendant reported that "it seemed that we were descending quickly so I handed the [trash] bag off to [another flight attendant], seated at door 4, so I could return to my jump seat. As I began to move toward the aisle, the plane dropped down slightly, which caused my feet to lift off the floor. This has happened to me before and I was able to brace myself by holding on to a passenger seat, or simply sitting in a passenger seat. I attempted to brace myself by reaching for the galley counters, however it was too far of a stretch and I wasn't able to hold myself very steady as my feet returned to the floor. Also, as my feet were returning to the floor, I felt the plane shift slightly from side to side. The motion of the plane coming back up as I was coming down, and shifting from side to side, I believe is what caused my leg to snap." A Convective SIGMET (significant meteorological information) 50C was issued and valid until 1455 for the states of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Kansas. The SIGMET indicated that area thunderstorms were moving 310 degrees at 20 knots with tops at 41,000 feet msl.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadvertent encounter with moderate turbulence during the approach which resulted in a serious injury to the flight attendant
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/3/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Denver |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80249 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395141N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044023W |
| 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 | 1253 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 22000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| 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 | 172 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22103 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 4 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 30 2007 12:18PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N523US |
| NTSB Number | DEN07LA098 |
| 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 | 757-251 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 23616 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 204300 |
| 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 | 191 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 66305 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NORTHWEST AIRLINES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7500 Airline Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Minneapolis |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55450 |
| 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 | NWAA |
| 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 | DTW |
| Departure City | DETROIT |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1225 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | DEN |
| Destination City | Denver |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 7 2007 1:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| 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 | -- |