- Date
- July 1, 2022, 17:21 local (Jul 2, 2022, 00:21 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Ana, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 141 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N480WNBoeing 737-700
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Abnormal runway contact
- 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
- 105497
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 flight attendant received a serious injury for undetermined reasons during a firm landing.
Findings · 2
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
A flight attendant was injured when Southwest Airlines Flight 2029 landed at the John Wayne-Orange County Airport (SNA), Santa Ana, California. According to the flight crew, they were flying a visual approach to runway 20R at SNA. They were aiming for the touchdown zone due to its short runway and trying to fly the aircraft onto the runway with minimal floating. However, it ended up being a firm landing. Shortly after exiting the runway, the flight crew were informed that the “B” position flight attendant (FA) seated in the aft jump seat had injured her back on landing and required medical assistance. Data from the operator’s Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) and Aircraft Health Monitoring (AHM) programs indicated the landing did not meet the hard landing criteria set by the airplane’s manufacturer. According to the FA, after securing the galley and cabin for landing, she sat down in her jumpseat, secured her seatbelt harness, and got into the brace position. She indicated that the plane hit the ground with such force that she thought the plane had crashed. She immediately felt pain in her back, neck and she could not move. Paramedics evaluated her and transported her to a local hospital where she was later diagnosed with a compression fracture to her T3 vertebra.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N480WN
- Reported as
- Boeing 737-700
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 33998
- Built
- 2004
- Airframe hours
- 60,471
- 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
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · June 29, 2022
- Departed
- KOAK · Oakland, CA
- Destination
- KSNA · Santa Ana, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- sna · John Wayne Orange County Airport, runway 20R, 5,700 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Heads up display, Onboard weather, Stall warning system, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B, Data recorder, Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator
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 · 5
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 17,500 total · 6,000 in this make and model · 10,500 as pilot in command · 120 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 5-point
- Flight hours
- 4,553 total · 174 in this make and model · 1,877 as pilot in command · 174 in the last 90 days · 66 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Cabin crew
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Role
- Cabin crew
- Injuries
- Serious
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Role
- Cabin crew
- Injuries
- None
- Restraint
- 4-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- KSNA
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 9, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 MB in all.