- Date
- December 11, 1997, 05:35 local (13:35 UTC)
- Place
- Ventura, CA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 16 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N329AESaab-Scania 340B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971211045509A
- Case key
- 30011
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
Seat belt not used. A related factor was the unforecasted severe air turbulence.
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
The captain reported that 20 minutes into a smooth flight, and 10 minutes before landing, he felt some light chop so he turned on the seat belt sign. Shortly thereafter, they experienced sudden and violent severe turbulence, seriously injuring the flight attendant. At that time, the flight attendant had completed her service and was about to acknowledge the seat belt sign over the public-address system prior to her being seated for landing. According to the crew, no valid SIGMET was issued and no AIRMET or PIREPS were available.
Factual narrative
On December 11, 1997, about 0535 hours Pacific standard time, a Saab 340B, N329AE, operated by American Eagle as Flight No. 3331, experienced severe turbulence in-flight at 5,000 feet msl over Ventura, California. There was no aircraft damage reported. There were no injuries to the 2 flight crewmembers or to the 14 passengers; one flight attendant received serious injuries. The flight departed Santa Barbara, California, at 0510 on an IFR flight plan en route to Los Angeles, California. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The aircraft performed an uneventful landing at Los Angeles International Airport.
Twenty minutes into a smooth flight, and 10 minutes from landing, the captain reported that he felt some light "chop" so he turned on the fasten seat belt sign. Shortly thereafter they experienced sudden and violent severe turbulence. At that time, the flight attendant had completed her service and was about to acknowledge the seat belt sign over the public-address system prior to her being seated for landing.
According to the crew there was no valid sigmet issued and no airmet or pireps were available.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N329AE
- Reported as
- Saab-Scania 340B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 340B-329
- Airframe hours
- 11,034
- Engine
- GE CT7, 1,600 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Wings West, doing business as American Eagle
- Registered owner
- Flagship Airlines, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · November 1, 1997 · 236 hours before
- Departed
- SBA · Santa Barbara, CA
- Destination
- LAX · Los Angeles, 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
- 39
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 12,000 total · 11,000 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 60° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LAX, 32 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.