# Incident 20040417007889I: Dhav DHC8103, Lanai City, HI, April 17, 2004

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: April 17, 2004, 18:20 local time
- Place: Lanai City, HI
- Airport: Lanai Airport
- Phase of flight: Climb
- Operating rules: Air carrier (Part 121)
- Operator: KPVA
- Location: 20.7856° N, 156.9514° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at LANAI (LNY), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=20.7856&lon=-156.9514&mi=10
- Aircraft: N807WP, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N807WP-2007-02-08) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Dehavilland DHC-8-103 (registry code 2809006, https://openairdocs.org/model/dehavilland-dhc-8-103) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada PW121 (registry code 52124, https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-canada-pw121) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: DHAV DHC8103
- People aboard: 24
- Fatal injuries: 0
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20040417007889I

## Narrative

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

(-23) ^PRIVACY DAT^ A PASSENGER OCCUPYING SEAT 7C, WAS INJURED WHEN SEVERE TURBULENCE WAS ENCOUNTERED ON CLIMB-OUT FROM LNY. ^PRIV^ SAID HER SEAT BELT WAS FASTENED TIGHTLY, BUT THAT IT DID NOT RESTRAIN HER DURING THE TURBULENCE EVENT. DURING THE TURBULENCE EVENT, SHE WAS LIFTED OUT OF HER SEAT AND HER HEAD IMPACTED THE OVERHEAD COMPARTMENT. ^PRIV^ WAS TRAVELING WITH HER TEN MONTH-OLD CHILD WHO WAS ON HER LAP AT THE TIME OF THE EVENT. THE CHILD WAS UNINJURED. CAPTAIN DECLARED A MEDICAL EMERGENCY AND REQUESTED PRIORITY CLEARANCE TO HNL. EMERGENCY MEDICAL PERSONNEL AND AN AMBULANCE MET THE FLIGHT AND ^PRIV^ WAS REMOVED ON A BACKBOARD. SUBSEQUENTLY, MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL INSPECTED THE SEATS AND SEAT BELTS AT ROW 7, HOWEVER NO DISCREPANCIES WERE NOTED. A DEFINITIVE EXPLANATION AS TO WHY ^PRIVAC^ SEAT BELT OPENED COULD NOT BE DETERMINED; HOWEVER, A PLAUSIBLE CAUSE WAS CONSIDERED: DURING THE EVENT, THE ABRUPT CHANGE IN ALTITUDE-TYPICAL IN SEVERE TURBULENCE-RESULTED IN DYNAMIC FORCES THAT MAY HAVE SHUFFLED THE CHILD ACROSS ^PRIVAC^ LAP. IN THIS PROCESS, THE CHILD MAY HAVE INADVERTENTLY BRUSHED AGAINST THE SEAT BELT RELEASE FLAP AND CAUSED THE SEAT BELT TO OPEN. THE POSSIBILITY ALSO EXISTS THAT ^PRIVAC^ SEAT BELT MAY HAVE BEEN INADVERTENTLY OPENED IN THE SAME MANNER PRIOR TO THE EVENT, AS THE CHILD WAS NOTED AS BEING ESPECIALLY ACTIVE.

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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