Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reno, Nevada 89502
Sunday, September 29, 2013 9:22 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the descent with known moderate-to-severe turbulence, the flight crew notified the cabin crew, which consisted of a forward and an aft flight attendant, to expect turbulent conditions, finish the cabin service, and be seated. As the airplane was leveling out, it encountered the first of a series of turbulent jolts of severe turbulence. The aft flight attendant had finished making a public announcement and was buckling herself into a jumpseat when the first jolt of severe turbulence hit. She was knocked out of the jumpseat onto the floor. The airplane encountered a second jolt of severe turbulence before she was able to get into her seat, and she was thrown to the ceiling and then back down to the floor, which resulted in a serious injury. The forward flight attendant had been checking on a passenger when the turbulence occurred and was thrown to the ceiling and hit the overhead bin. The passenger she was checking on flew out of his seat because he had not fastened his seatbelt, and he landed on the armrest of another seat.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The airplane’s encounter with known moderate-to-severe turbulence, which resulted in a serious injury to a flight attendant.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/29/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 922 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Reno |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89502 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 392956N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1194605W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 855 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4415 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 24 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.05 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 58 |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32906 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Horizon Air |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 22 2014 2:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N449QX |
| NTSB Number | WPR13LA431 |
| 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 | BOMBARDIER |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-8-402 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4410 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 65200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | 2 |
| Passenger Seats | 76 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 80 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 23 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3521 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Horizon Air Industries Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Seattle |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98188 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Horizon Air Industries Inc |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Seattle |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98188 |
| Operator Code | QXEA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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 | SEA |
| Departure City | Seattle |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 747 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RNO |
| Destination City | Reno |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 22 2014 2:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |