DCA12FA046

The flight encountered severe turbulence and two lightning strikes while the flight was level at 13,000 feet in instrument meteorological conditions. The seatbelt sign had been illuminated since the passing through 18,000 feet during the descent and was on at the time of the encounter. Prior to the turbulence, a passenger had ignored the seatbelt sign and entered the lavatory, unbeknownst to the flight attendants, who were preparing the cabin for landing. At the time of the turbulence encounter, the passenger was exiting the lavatory and was severely injured. Inflight turbulence and convection advisories had been forecasted for the area where the flight encountered the turbulence. There was a convective SIGMET for severe thunderstorms and for occasional turbulence between 16,000 feet and FL 280. In addition, there were several pilot reports of turbulence in the area.

On February 24, 2011, about 1700 eastern daylight time, US Airways flight 1556, an Airbus A321-211, N162UW, encountered turbulence during arrival into Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Of the 189 passengers and crew onboard one passenger received serious injuries and the airplane was not damaged. The flight was operating under Title 14 CFR Part 121 as a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The first officer was the pilot flying and the captain was the pilot monitoring. The flight crew stated that they were in instrument meteorological conditions and level at 13,000 feet and 250 knots when they encountered severe turbulence and two separate lightning strikes. The flight crew stated that the weather radar was on and displaying only green returns. The crew indicated that the seat belt sign was on, and had been on since passing through 18,000 feet. They indicated that turbulence lasted about 10-15 seconds and the airplane immediately lose 20 knots airspeed and pitched violently in all three axes. In addition, the airplane lost about 150 feet in altitude and the autopilot disengaged. While the captain was reporting the severe turbulence to Air Traffic Control, the flight crew was notified by the flight attendants that a passenger was on the floor and was apparently injured. When the turbulence was encountered, a passenger was exiting the mid-lavatory and sustained serious injuries. The A flight attendant stated that as she had been in the back of the airplane and that they encountered the turbulence when she was walking back to the front. She said that she did not see the passenger actually fall, but after the turbulence, saw the passenger lying on the floor outside the 3L lavatory. The flight attendant said she immediately dropped to the floor since to assist the passenger and had two men in the exit aisle seats put their arms around her to secure her in case the airplane encountered additional turbulence. The flight attendant said she then told a flight attendant seated in the aft galley to inform the captain of the event.