- Date
- December 10, 2015, 13:53 local (19:53 UTC)
- Place
- Great Falls, MT
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 5 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3014RAirbus A319 115
- Defining event
- Enroute-descent: Turbulence encounter
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 20, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Case key
- 92433
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
an encounter with turbulence during initial descent.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
On December 10, 2015 at 1353 mountain standard time, American Airlines flight 1428, an Airbus 319, N3014R, encountered turbulence while enroute from the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada airport (YEG). The flight was planned for flight level (FL) 320. The crew stated that there was light chop for most of the flight and the seat belt sign was on the entire flight. ATC advised the flight crew that the ride above FL350 was better. The flight crew requested FL360. Initially the flight was smoother but then they encountered light chop again and requested to return to FL320. The captain instructed the flight attendants (FA) to secure the galleys due to expected turbulence on descent into YEG. During this time, the flight encounter light chop turbulence and FA #2 fell when attempting to return to her jumpseat, resulting in a broken tibia. Emergency medical trained passengers assisted with splinting the FA's leg and she was assisted into the last row of seats. The captain decided to continue to YEG after consulting with Americans on call physician. There were no other injuries and no damage to the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3014R
- Reported as
- Airbus A319 115 (115)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 5842
- Built
- 2013
- Engines
- CFM Intl CFM56-5B6CFM Intl CFM56-5B6
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- American Airlines Inc
- Registered owner
- American Airlines Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- DFW · Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
- Destination
- CYEG · Edmonton
- 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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 14,295 total · 346 in this make and model · 9,279 as pilot in command
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 61
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 5,709 total · 1,219 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Turbulence
- Light
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 9, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 MB in all.
Other investigations on N3014R · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.