- Date
- July 4, 1991, 12:07 local (16:07 UTC)
- Place
- Alma, GA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 124 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N605DLBoeing 757-232
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910704030619A
- Case key
- 8428
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Turbulence in clouds, which was associated with a dissipating thunderstorm.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilots reported that they were deviating around two thunderstorm cells located 20 to 25 miles east of their position. As they came out of the bottom of a Cirrus layer, they observed a dissipating cumulus cloud in their flight path. This cloud was not observed on their weather radar, and avoidance would have required an abrupt, violent maneuver. The flight crew activated the seat belt sign just prior to cloud penetration. The flight experienced a turbulence episode of about four seconds in duration. A female passenger, who was entering the lavatory at the time caught her foot in the lavatory door, breaking her ankle.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N605DL
- Reported as
- Boeing 757-232
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22812
- Engine
- P&W 2037, 37,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Delta Air Lines
- Registered owner
- Delta Air Lines
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- MCO · Orlando, FL
- Destination
- ATL · Atlanta, GA
- Flight plan
- IFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 50
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 15,550 total · 65 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 10,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- VAD, 49 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.