Serious incident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 N137AA, Thursday 30 December 1982
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Date:Thursday 30 December 1982
Time:15:58 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic DC10 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30
Owner/operator:American Airlines
Registration: N137AA
MSN: 47847/116
Year of manufacture:1973
Engine model:GE CF-6-50C
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 217
Other fatalities:0
Aircraft damage: None
Category:Serious incident
Location:Thermal, CA -   United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature:Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX/KLAX)
Destination airport:Dallas/ft Worth, TX
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
AT ABOUT 1458 PST, THE AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERED MODERATE TO SEVERE CLEAR AIR TURBULENCE FOR A PERIOD OF 8 TO 10 SECONDS WHILE CLIMBING THROUGH 35,500 FT. SEVEN PASSENGERS AND SEVEN FLIGHT ATTENDANTS RECEIVED MINOR INJURIES. THE SEAT BELT SIGN HAD BEEN TURNED ON BEFORE TAKEOFF AND HAD REMAINED ON THROUGHOUT THE ENCOUNTER. OF THE PASSENGER WHO WERE INJURED, FOUR STATED THEIR SEAT BELTS WERE OFF, TWO STATED THEIR BELTS WERE LOOSE AND ONE HAD DISREGARDED THE SIGN AND WAS IN THE LAVATORY. THE INJURED FLIGHT ATTENDANTS WERE PREPARING FOR CABIN SERVICE AND WERE NOT RESTRAINED. A REVIEW OF THE AIRLINE'S COMPUTER GENERATED FLIGHT PLAN DATA REVEALED THAT THE MAXIMUM GENERATED TURBULENCE INDEX PREDICTED WAS LIGHT. THERE WAS A CAT SIGMET, VALID FOR THE PERIOD, WHICH REPORTED MODERATE TURBULENCE AT FLIGHT LEVEL 360 TO 370 OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN THE HECTOR-THERMAL AREA.

Probable Cause:

Accident investigation:
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Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: FTW83IA072
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB FTW83IA072

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
02-Apr-2024 17:47 ASN Update Bot Added
17-Oct-2024 17:18 ASN Updated [Cn, Other fatalities, Narrative, ]

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