- Date
- July 16, 1982, 12:02 local (18:02 UTC)
- Place
- Morton, WY
- Injuries
- 7 serious, 19 minor, 142 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1815UMcdonnell Douglas DC-10-10
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 16, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 71776
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
While flying in good wx over central Wyoming, the captain noted a gentle wave motion that caused the autothrottles to react. Therefore, he disengaged the autothrottles and autopilot. The acft had lost 250 ft drg the wave motion, so the captain turned on the seat belt sign & began a climb back to 39,000 ft. about 30 sec later (aprx 4 min aft the initial wave action), the acft experienced a sharp jolt. The vert "g" forces went from minus .6 to positive 1.6 g in aprx 1.25 sec. The air was smooth after the jolt & no afct sys was affected. A doctor treated the injured while the flt continued to destination. A wx summary indicated that the acft had encountered a mountain wave and/or turbulence windshear near the tropopause. Indications normally used to forecast waves were not present until the approximate time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1815U
- Reported as
- Mcdonnell Douglas DC-10-10
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 46614
- Airframe hours
- 28,360
- Engine
- GE CF6, 37,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- United Airlines
- Registered owner
- United Airlines
- Departed
- BOS · Boston, MA
- Destination
- SFO · San Francisco, 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 59
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 1,550 in this make and model · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
Other investigations on N1815U · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.