# Incident 19960912042609I: Saab 340B, Palm Springs, CA, September 12, 1996

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 12, 1996, 19:20 local time
- Place: Palm Springs, CA
- Airport: Palm Springs Regional Airport
- Phase of flight: Descent
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: WWMA
- Location: 33.8297° N, 116.5067° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at PALM SPRINGS INTL (PSP), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.8297&lon=-116.5067&mi=10
- Aircraft: N256AE, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N256AE-2018-03-12) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Saab-Scania SAAB 340B (registry code 7860101, https://openairdocs.org/model/saab-scania-saab-340b) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: SAAB 340B
- People aboard: 14
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 8,000 total, 1,000 in this make and model, 150 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19960912042609I

## Narrative

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

NARRATIVE: AMERICAN EAGLE FLIGHT 240 (EGF240) WAS DESCENDING THROUGH 11,000 FEET AND JUST PASSING OVER A MOUNTAIN RANGE WHEN THE AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED WHAT CAPTAIN GUNTHER CALLED SEVERE TURBULENCE. THE TURBULENCE WAS REPORTED AS ONE JOLT. CAPTAIN GUNTHER SAID THAT THE AIRCRAFT'S NOSE WENT DOWN AS THE ENTIRE AIRCRAFT FIRST WENT UP, THEN THE AIRCRAFT ABRUPTLY DROPPED. BOTH PILOTS HAD THEIR SEATBELTS AND SHOULDER HARNESSES ON AND THEIR HEADS HIT THE BACK OF THEIR SEATS. ALL ELEVEN PASSENGERS HAD THEIR SEATBELTS ON, THE SEATBELT SIGN HAD BEEN ILLUMINATED ON FOR AT LEAST TEN MINUTES. THE ONLY FLIGHT ATTENDANT WAS IN THE ISLE CONDUCTING HER SAFETY CHECK WHEN THE JOLT HIT AND SHE WAS THROWN TO THE FLOOR. CAPTAIN GUNTHER SAID THAT SOME PASSENGERS HIT, BUMPED, THEIR HEADS ON THE SIDE WALL OF THE AIRPLANE'S CABIN. PARAMEDICS MET THE FLIGHT AT THE GATE. ALL THE PASSENGERS WALKED OFF THE AIRCRAFT. THE PARAMEDICS CHECKED THREE PASSENGERS AND THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT, ALL DEPARTED WITHOUT FURTHER TREATMENT, THEREFORE NO INJURIES ARE REPORTED IN THIS DOCUMENT. SURFACE WINDS WERE GUSTING AT PALM SPRINGS REGIONAL AIRPORT BUT NO PILOT REPORTS FOR THE ENTIRE AREA HAD BEEN GIVEN OR RECEIVED. CAPTAIN GUNTHER SAID THE AIR WAS CLEAR OF CLOUDS. ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD PASSENGER SEATBELT DISCIPLINE. NO FURTHER ACTION, CLOSED.

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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