# Incident 19960413024519I: Atlanta, GA, April 13, 1996

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: April 13, 1996, 21:21 local time
- Place: Atlanta, GA
- Phase of flight: Climb
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: DALA
- Location: 33.7490° N, 84.3880° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Atlanta, GA, within about 7 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.7490&lon=-84.3880&mi=10
- Aircraft: UR059 (not matched to a registry record)
- People aboard: 100
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 9,500 total, 606 in this make and model, 164 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19960413024519I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: DELTA FLIGHT 791, UNDER THE COMMAND OF CAPTAIN AL KNOEPFEL, DEPARTED ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT ENROUTE TO GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA ON APRIL 13, 1996. FLIGHT 791, BEING FLOWN BY FIRST OFFICER R.A. HEMINGER, HAD BEEN VECTORED SOUTH OF THE AIRPORT AND WAS DEVIATING DUE TO WEATHER WHILE CLIMBING TO A CRUISE ALTITUDE. PROCEEDING DAL 791; AN ASE FLIGHT 11, HAD BEEN GIVEN BY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL AN ALTITUDE OF SEVENTEEN THOUSAND FEET. THIS RESULTED IN DAL 791 BEING RESTRICTED TO SIXTEEN THOUSAND FEET. IT WAS DURING THIS PHASE OF FLIGHT THAT DAL 791 ENCOUNTERED THE TURBULENCE THAT CAUSED THE INJURY OF TWO FLIGHT ATTENDANTS. THESE INJURIES WERE ADMINISTERED TO BY TWO PHYSICIANS THAT WERE ONBOARD. WHILE MINOR IN NATURE FOR ONE FLIGHT ATTENDANT, THE OTHER ATTENDANT REQUIRED TIME OFF FROM DUTY. HOWEVER, NEITHER FLIGHT ATTENDANT RECEIVED ANY SUSTAINING INJURIES. CAPTAIN KNOEPFEL, STATED IN HIS REPORT, THAT THE FLIGHT CONDITIONS AFTER DEPARTING ATLANTA WERE, SCATTERED CLOUDS WITH NO MOON. THE RADAR HAD BEEN TURNED ON AND WAS INDICATING SEVERAL STRONG CELLS FIFTY MILES WEST OF THEIR INTENDED FLIGHT PATH. AFTER LEVELING OFF AT SIXTEEN THOUSAND FEET, THE AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED THE FIFTEEN TO TWENTY SECONDS OF TURBULENCE. CAPTAIN KNOEPFEL'S DECISION AT THIS TIME WAS TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY AND RETURNED TO THE ATLANTA HARTSFIELD AIRPORT. THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE CREW OF FLIGHT 791 WAS APPROPRIATE UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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