- Date
- October 29, 2001, 19:50 local (Oct 30, 2001, 00:50 UTC)
- Place
- Dulles, VA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 148 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N640ABoeing 757-223
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report October 24, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20011029031989A
- Case key
- 53704
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 sustained a broken ankle during an emergency evacuation.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
About 40 minutes after takeoff, a passenger found a threatening note when she extended her seat back tray. The note was given to a flight attendant, who informed the flightcrew of its contents. The flightcrew declared an emergency, diverted to another airport, and landed uneventfully. An emergency evacuation was conducted, during which one passenger broke her ankle, while exiting the bottom of the emergency slide. She was transported to the hospital, treated for her injuries, and returned to the airport to continue on the flight.
Factual narrative
On October 29, 2001, about 1950 eastern standard time, a Boeing 757-223, N640A, operating as American Airlines flight 785, performed an unscheduled landing and emergency evacuation at Washington/Dulles International Airport, Dulles, Virginia, after a threatening note was found by a passenger. The 2 certificated airline transport pilots, 6 flight attendants, and 140 passengers were not injured. One passenger was seriously injured. An instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the flight that originated at LaGuardia International Airport, New York, New York, at 1819, destined for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the passenger flight conducted under 14 CFR part 121.
According to statements provided by flight attendants, the threatening note was found by a passenger in seat 11F when she extended her seat back tray, around 1900. The note was immediately given to a flight attendant, who informed the flight crew of its contents.
The flightcrew reported that after they reviewed the note, they declared an emergency and diverted to Washington/Dulles International Airport. The airplane landed uneventfully at 1945, and was taxied onto a taxiway where the captain instructed the flight attendants to conduct an emergency evacuation using the slides.
All eight slides deployed normally; however, during the evacuation, one passenger broke her ankle while exiting the bottom of the slide. She was transported to the hospital, treated for her injuries, and returned to the airport to continue on the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N640A
- Reported as
- Boeing 757-223
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24598
- Engines
- General Electric, turbo fanGeneral Electric, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- American Airlines Inc, doing business as American Airlines
- Registered owner
- American Airlines Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Departed
- LGA · New York, NY
- Destination
- DFW · Dallas, TX
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- IAD · Washington Dulles Int'l Arpt
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
- 52
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 3,000 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Military, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,540 total · 1,700 as pilot in command · 90 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.45 inHg
- Observed at
- IAD
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.