- Date
- October 11, 2018, 11:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- San Jose, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 121 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N734SABoeing 737
- Defining event
- Enroute-descent: Cabin safety event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Case key
- 98460
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
A passenger falling while returning to her seat which resulted in a serious injury.
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 October 11, 2018, about 1100 pacific daylight time, Southwest Airlines flight 2134, a Boeing B737-700, N734SA, was on final decent into Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport (KSJC), San Jose, California, when a passenger fell returning to her seat. Of the 122 passengers and crew onboard, one passenger received serious injuries. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from John Wayne Airport (KSNA), Santa Ana, California, to KSJC. According to the flight attendants, as they were completing their final walkthrough of the cabin, a passenger exited the lavatory and tripped as she was returning to her seat. The seatbelt sign was illuminated, and the airplane was below 10,000 feet. The passenger immediately complained of hip pain and a flight attendant remained on the floor with the injured passenger for landing. Emergency medical personnel met the airplane at the gate and transported the passenger to a local hospital where she was diagnosed with a fractured left hip.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N734SA
- Reported as
- Boeing 737 (7H4)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 27866
- Built
- 1999
- Engines
- Cfm Intl. CFM56 SERIES, turbo fanCfm Intl. CFM56 SERIES, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Southwest Airlines Co
- Registered owner
- Southwest Airlines Co
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- KSNA · Santa Ana, CA
- Destination
- KSJC · San Jose, CA
- 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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 30, 2017
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 14,231 total · 9,590 in this make and model · 5,496 as pilot in command · 147 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 40
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- December 6, 2017
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 4,695 total · 1,185 in this make and model · 2,500 as pilot in command · 171 in the last 90 days · 53 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.88 inHg
- Observed at
- SJC
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 6, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 556 KB in all.