- Date
- September 10, 2018, 21:00 local (Sep 11, 2018, 04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Phoenix, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N950NNBoeing 737
- Defining event
- Approach: Aircraft wake turb encounter
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report April 22, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Case key
- 98336
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 inadvertent encounter with wake turbulence.
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 September 10, 2018, at 9:00 pm Mountain Standard Time (MST), American Airlines flight 2197, a Boeing 737-800, N950NN, encountered wake turbulence while descending through 3,100 feet on approach to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (KPHX), Phoenix, Arizona. A flight attendant was securing items in the galley and was seriously injured as a result of the turbulence. There were no injuries to the other passengers or crew, and the airplane was not damaged. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (KSEA), Seattle, Washington, to KPHX. According to the flight crew, the seat belt sign was on, and the "prepare for landing" announcement was made to the flight attendants. The airplane was approximately three miles behind a narrow body Airbus, in landing configuration when the turbulence occurred. After landing, the flight crew were notified that one of the flight attendants had been injured. Paramedics met the flight at the gate and the flight attendant was transported to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a broken left rib.
Factual narrative
On September 10, 2018, at 9:00 pm Mountain Standard Time (MST), American Airlines flight 2197, a Boeing 737-800, N950NN, encountered wake turbulence while descending through 3,100 feet on approach to the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (KPHX), Phoenix, Arizona. A flight attendant was securing items in the galley and was seriously injured as a result of the turbulence. There were no injuries to the other passengers or crew, and the airplane was not damaged. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (KSEA), Seattle, Washington, to KPHX. According to the flight crew, the seat belt sign was on, and the "prepare for landing" announcement was made to the flight attendants. The airplane was approximately three miles behind a narrow body Airbus, in landing configuration when the turbulence occurred. After landing, the flight crew were notified that one of the flight attendants had been injured. Paramedics met the flight at the gate and the flight attendant was transported to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a broken left rib.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N950NN
- Reported as
- Boeing 737 (823)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31194
- Built
- 2014
- Airframe hours
- 14,425
- Engines
- Cfm Intl CFM56-7B24ECfm Intl CFM56-7B24E
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- American Airlines
- Registered owner
- Wilmington Trust Co Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport; Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- August 28, 2018
- Departed
- SEA · Seattle, WA
- Destination
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PHX · Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl, runway 26, 11,489 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Angle of attack indicator, Data recorder, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Heads up display, Onboard weather, Satellite tracking device, Stall warning system, ADS-B
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.
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Observed at
- KPHX
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 4, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 MB in all.