Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fayetteville, North Carolina 28301
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 23:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After leveling off at 14,000 feet mean sea level the flightcrew allowed passenger beverage service to occur. Shortly thereafter the flightcrew noticed a layer of clouds ahead and asked air traffic control (ATC) if they could climb to stay above the clouds. The controller was unable to clear the airplane to climb due to traffic above. The captain informed the flight attendant (FA) who began beverage service to put the cart away and be seated due to anticipated turbulence. The flight entered a cloud layer and was then vectored by ATC 80 degrees to the right to a navigation fix. During the turn, the first officer noticed a small cell of precipitation directly ahead of their flight path. The first officer continued the turn 30 more degrees to avoid the cell but the flight encountered about 15 seconds of moderate turbulence. The beverage cart and the flight attendant became airborne, and when she landed she sustained compound fractures of her left tibia and fibula. She alerted the captain and two passengers assisted the injured FA by securing the beverage cart. The injured FA continued to make all required safety announcements. An emergency was declared with air traffic control and the flight proceeded to the destination and landed without further event. The FA was transported to a hospital for treatment. Postaccident operational testing of the weather radar system revealed it tested satisfactory.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An in-flight encounter with convective clouds resulting in moderate turbulence and serious injury to a flight attendant.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/5/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 2315 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fayetteville |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 28301 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345917N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0785229W |
| 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 | 2252 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CLT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 748 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.99 |
| 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 | 32 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27389 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Piedmont Airlines, Inc. |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 4 2010 8:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N328EN |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA444 |
| 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 OF CANADA/DEHAV DIV |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-8-311 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 281 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 41000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 3 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 2 |
| Passenger Seats | 50 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 55 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 19 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 31596 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | WELLS FARGO BANK NORTHWEST NA TRUSTEE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 299 SOUTH MAIN STREET 12TH FLOOR |
| Aircraft Owner City | SALT LAKE CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | UT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 84111 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PIEDMONT AIRLINES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 5443 Airport Terminal Road |
| Operator City | Salisbury |
| Operator State | MD |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 21804-1700 |
| Operator Code | HNAA |
| 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 | HNAA001A |
| 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 | CLT |
| Departure City | Charlotte |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2301 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EWN |
| Destination City | New Bern |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 31 2010 3:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |