Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

--, Alaska
Friday, February 19, 2010 23:58 UTC

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On February 19, 2010, at 2358 UTC, a United B747-422, registration N173UA, operating as flight 897 from Dulles International Airport to Narita, Japan, encountered severe turbulence. United reports that the flight encountered severe turbulence approximately abeam ANC while descending through FL310, on the way to a cruise altitude of FL 300. This altitude change was due to a previous report that indicated that a JAL flight had moderate turbulence at FL320, and FL300 was reported 'mostly smooth'. The Captain reported the encounter was "brief" and included an airplane roll moment left and right along with a pitch up 'wave' action. The stick shaker activated momentarily, and indicated airspeed was about 306 KIAS FL310-FL300. MMO was never exceeded during this period. The seat belt sign was on at the time for passengers and flight attendants. The decision was to continue to destination after assessing airplane systems and passenger/flight attendant condition. There were various communications between the flight and United operations to confirm airplane passenger and crew condition. The remainder of the flight and landing were uneventful. The FAA was not notified at the time of the event of the possible injuries to the passengers and crew. There were 19 crew members and 243 passengers on board. The on ground inspection has been completed and there was no exterior structural damage to the airplane related to the severe turbulence. The interior damage currently has 25 cabin related defects logged. These include PSU panels through-out the passenger cabin that have been damaged. A few seats may need to be replaced. There are some dents & deep scratches in sidewalls & ceiling panels. A preliminary report from United indicates that 17 passengers and 9 flight attendants received injuries. All were treated at a hospital in Narita and released. One passenger injury is being researched further. CVR and DFDR are quarantined and in the process of being shipped to NTSB Headquarters.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/19/2010
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 2358
Event Time Zone Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT
Event City --
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2010
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source --
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 --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
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 25
Injury Total None 236
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 26
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 3 2014 10:02AM
User who most recently changed record sedj
Basic weather conditions --
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N173UA
NTSB Number DCA10FA032
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed --
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name --
Aircraft Model --
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number --
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category --
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? --
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name United
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name UNITED AIR LINES INC
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code UALA
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 UALA011A
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 --
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City --
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 28 2012 10:39AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --