- Date
- May 11, 1990, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Washington, DC
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 4 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N990UABoeing B-737
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 21, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900511042579A
- Case key
- 11592
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
The aircraft encountered turbulence, resulting in injury to a flight attendant.
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 acft was descending through 8500 ft when it encountered clear air turbulence, causing a flight attendant to fall and fracture her rib. At the time she was preparing the cabin for landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N990UA
- Reported as
- Boeing B-737
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21980
- Airframe hours
- 32,031
- Engine
- P&W JT8D-17, 20,000 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- United Airlines
- Registered owner
- Wilmington Trust
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · April 27, 1990 · 98 hours before
- Departed
- PVD · Providence, RI
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- IAD · Dulles Intl
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 13,565 total · 3,115 in this make and model · 163 in the last 90 days · 57 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- IAD
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.