Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pacific Ocean, --
Monday, May 19, 2008 13:40 UTC
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The captain stated that the ride had been smooth at their cruise altitude of 36,000 feet, and the seatbelt sign was off. He further stated that there was some thunderstorm activity, and some towering cumulus in the area, and that the airplane’s radar indicated the presence of a cell about 30 miles south of the airplane’s position, with tops that reached about 28,000 to 30,000 feet. He said they encountered an area of higher clouds, but the radar still did not indicate any activity, and within a few seconds they felt an initial bump, followed by "moderate" turbulence. He said he then turned the seatbelt sign on, and a short while later he was notified that there were some injured passengers and flight attendants. The NTSB’s Recorder Laboratory, Washington DC, read out the DFDR, and the data indicated that at 13:27:22 FDR Recorded GMT, at a pressure altitude of 36,000 feet, the vertical acceleration changed from 0.9 g’s to 1.8 g’s to -0.5 g’s to 1.7 g’s and then back to 0.9 g’s all within 3 seconds, consistent with clear air turbulence. See the NTSB DFDR Factual Report. In addition the NTSB conducted a meteorological study, using data to include synoptic, upper air, and satellite data. See the NTSB Meteorological Factual Report.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An inadvertent in-flight encounter with unforecasted clear air turbulence
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/19/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1340 |
| Event Time Zone | Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Event City | Pacific Ocean |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 155000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1520830E |
| 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 | Unknown |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total None | 157 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24921 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Omni International Airways |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 19 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 24 2009 12:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | schd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dallas - Fort Worth FSDO, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N720AX |
| NTSB Number | DCA08FA062 |
| 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 | MCDONNELL DOUGLAS |
| Aircraft Model | DC10 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 30 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 48252 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 580000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 5 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 355 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 360 |
| Number of Engines | 3 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 24 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 248 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Omni DC-10 Leasing LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3303 N. Sheridan Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tulsa |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 74158 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Omni Air International |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3303 N. Sheridan Road |
| Operator City | Tulsa |
| Operator State | OK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 74158 |
| Operator Code | OAE |
| 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 | Non-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 | HNO |
| Departure City | Hololulu |
| Departure State | HI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 745 |
| Departure Time Zone | UTC |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GUM |
| Destination City | Agana |
| Destination State | GU |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 24 2009 12:11PM |
| 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 | -- |