Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pawnee, Nebraska 68420
Thursday, February 23, 2012 14:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had been cruising in smooth air conditions for over 30 minutes when it suddenly encountered 2 to 3 seconds of moderate turbulence. The momentary altitude and roll deviation of the airplane, which was corrected by the autopilot, threw one of the flight attendants against the airplane structure, which resulted in a serious injury to her hand. The flight crew had not been given any turbulence advisories by air route traffic controllers, and the flight crew had not overheard any airplanes in the area reporting moderate turbulence. Immediately after the encounter, the airplane continued in smooth air conditions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The airplane's encounter with moderate turbulence during cruise flight, which resulted in a serious injury to a flight attendant.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/23/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1430 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Pawnee |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68420 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 401008N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0960907W |
| 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 | 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 | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3200 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 19 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 25 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.43 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 138 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30775 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB Communications Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 17 2013 6:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N915WN |
| NTSB Number | WPR12LA119 |
| 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 | 737-7H4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 36888 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 154500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 4 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 4 |
| Passenger Seats | 137 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 145 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 9 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 14201 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | DALLAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75235-1908 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | DALLAS |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 75235-1908 |
| Operator Code | SWA |
| 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 | 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 | KMDW |
| Departure City | Chicago |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1335 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KLAX |
| Destination City | Las Angeles |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 30 2012 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |