- Date
- April 26, 1993, 22:18 local (Apr 27, 1993, 02:18 UTC)
- Place
- Miami, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 61 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N646DLBoeing 757-232
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report November 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930426037469A
- Case key
- 33261
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
The failure of the pilot-in-command to anticipate turbulence in observed weather and request that flight attendants be seated, before encountering the observed weather.
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 flight encountered turbulence while descending through 11,000 feet on initial approach to Miami, Florida. The aircraft was operating near a level two radar echo and the captain reported they were crossing a narrow band of clouds and were in clouds at the time of the turbulence encounter. After exiting the clouds the captain observed a thunderstorm cell 7 to 8 miles south of their position. No significant weather was showing on the aircraft's radar at the time of the encounter according to the captain. A flight attendant who was exiting the aft lavoratory was lifted off the floor during the turbulence encounter and sustained an ankle injury when she landed. She was wearing 2-inch high heel shoes at the time of the accident. She stated the seatbelt sign was on at the time and all passengers were seated. The cockpit crew had made no announcements for flight attendants to be seated.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N646DL
- Reported as
- Boeing 757-232
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24217
- Airframe hours
- 14,176
- Engine
- P&W PW2037, 37,530 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Delta Air Lines, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Delta Air Lines, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · April 25, 1993
- Departed
- ATL · Atlanta, GA
- 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
- 49
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 9,500 total · 2,800 in this make and model · 180 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 150° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MIA, 30 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.