# Incident 20210723005969I: Boeing 787-9, Crystal Springs, MS, July 23, 2021

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: July 23, 2021, 19:54 local time
- Place: Crystal Springs, MS
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
- Operating rules: Foreign air carrier (Part 129)
- Operator: KRDF
- Location: 31.9900° N, 90.3553° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Crystal Springs, MS, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=31.9900&lon=-90.3553&mi=10
- Aircraft: NONE (not matched to a registry record)
- Reported make and model: BOEING 787-9
- People aboard: 0
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20210723005969I

## Narrative

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

THE AIRCRAFT WAS CRUISING AT FL380 WITH A SPEED OF M 0.84 APPROXIMATELY 160 NM NNE OF NEW ORLEANS ON A SOUTH-WESTERLY TRACK. THE F/O AND S/O WERE AT THE CONTROLS, WHILE THE CAPTAIN WAS RESTING IN THE OVERHEAD CREW REST (OCR). THE CREW HAD BEEN INFORMED BY DISPATCH ABOUT AN AREA WITH SHOWERS OVER THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI. NO TURBULENCE REPORTS HAD BEEN RECEIVED AT THE TIME. THE FASTEN SEATBELT SIGN WAS NOT SWITCHED ON.

THE CREW OBSERVED WEATHER RADAR RETURNS OF CUMULONIMBUS CLOUDS (CBS) LEFT AND RIGHT OF TRACK, BUT BASED ON THE WEATHER RADAR IMAGE THE AIRCRAFT WOULD STAY CLEAR OF THESE CBS WHEN MAINTAINING THEIR CURRENT TRACK. NO TURBULENCE HAD BEEN EXPERIENCED SO FAR. WHEN FLYING ABEAM THE CBS THE AIRCRAFT ENCOUNTERED SUDDEN SEVERE TURBULENCE FOR APPROXIMATELY 10 SECONDS. THE CRUISE SPEED OF M 0.84 WAS ALREADY EQUAL TO TURBULENCE PENETRATION SPEED AND WAS NOT ADJUSTED. THE CREW NOTICED A 20 KTS DROP IN INDICATED AIRSPEED AND ALTERNATING POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE VERTICAL ACCELERATIONS (G-FORCES).

ON THE NAVIGATION DISPLAY, GREEN WEATHER RADAR REFLECTIONS WERE DISPLAYED AND THE CREW DECIDED TO TURN LEFT 10 DEGREES TO EXIT THE AREA OF GREEN RADAR REFLECTIONS AFTER WHICH THE TURBULENCE CEASED. EICAS MESSAGES SMOKE REST UPR DR 4 AND CARGO HEAT BULK WERE DISPLAYED DURING THE TURBULENCE ENCOUNTER, BUT DISAPPEARED AFTER THE EVENT. BECAUSE OF THE SUDDEN ONSET AND SHORT DURATION OF THE TURBULENCE, THE COMMAND ?CABIN CREW TAKE YOUR SEATS? HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN. A REPORT TO ATC WAS MADE THAT SEVERE TURBULENCE HAD BEEN ENCOUNTERED

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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