Honolulu International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Honolulu, Hawaii 96819
Tuesady, December 25, 2007 5:54 HST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

A flight attendant was seriously injured when the airplane encountered convectively induced severe turbulence in cruise flight at 38,000 feet. The operator's meteorology department had properly forecast the convective activity in the vicinity of the accident site and the flight crew indicated that they were aware of the forecast thunderstorm activity. About 19 minutes before the event, the flight received clearance to deviate around an area of scattered thunderstorms. The monitoring pilot then called the lead flight attendant (LFA) on the interphone and advised her to make sure all the flight attendants took their seats and remained seated until further notice as the flight deviated around some areas of weather and that it should not last much longer than 15 minutes. The pilots reported back on course and believed they were clear of any weather and were discussing allowing the flight attendants to resume their duties when they encountered a brief area of severe turbulence without warning. Both pilots indicated that they were clear of any clouds and were well clear of any echoes when the turbulence occurred. The LFA reported that although it had been “bumpy” most of the flight, when she received the call from the flight deck, it was smooth, and the seat belt sign was on. She walked to both galleys and told the flight attendants to be seated for the next 15 minutes. According to the LFA, about 12 to 13 minutes later, the turbulence encounter occurred. The two flight attendants in the aft galley misunderstood the LFA's instructions and believed they had 15 minutes before they were to be seated. Both were standing, completing preparation of their crew meals, and were knocked to the floor during the event. One sustained serious injuries and the other minor injuries. Flight data recorder data indicates that the airplane experienced a vertical acceleration of -0.4 G to +1.8 G, or 2.2 G total change, which corresponds to severe to extreme turbulence.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the two flight attendants in the aft galley to understand the lead flight attendant's instructions, which resulted in them not being seated when the flight encountered convectively induced severe turbulence. Contributing to the accident was the convectively induced turbulence.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/25/2007
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 554
Event Time Zone Hawaii Standard Time
Event City Honolulu
Event State HAWAII
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 96819
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 211907N
Event Location Longitude 1575521W
Event Location Airport Honolulu International
Event Location Nearest Airport ID HNL
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 13
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 3
Injury Total None 291
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24892
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Dec 25 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 6 2009 3:06PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Honolulu, HI

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N819NW
NTSB Number SEA08LA051
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 Airbus Industrie
Aircraft Model A330-323
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 0858
Certified Max Gross Weight 515656
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats 4
Cabin Crew Seats 12
Passenger Seats 298
Total number of seats on the aircraft 314
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Jul 10 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1230
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Northwest Airlines, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Minneapolis
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55450
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Northwest Airlines, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Minneapolis
Operator State MN
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 55450
Operator Code NWAA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 International
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 RJBB
Departure City Osaka
Departure State --
Departure Country JA
Departure Time 1141
Departure Time Zone UTC
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code HNL
Destination City Honolulu
Destination State HI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 6 2009 3:04PM
User who most recently changed record stam
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --