# NTSB WPR13LA431: Bombardier DHC-8-402, N449QX, Reno, NV, September 29, 2013 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: September 29, 2013, 09:22 local (16:22 UTC) - Place: Reno, NV - Coordinates: 39.498889, -119.768058 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=39.4989&lon=-119.7681&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Approach: Turbulence encounter](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/360) - Highest injury: Serious injuries - Injuries: 1 serious, 2 minor, 58 uninjured - Status: Completed, report August 14, 2014 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Western Pacific Region - Parties: FAA-FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 88165 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=WPR13LA431 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/88165/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=88165 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR13LA431 ## Probable cause The airplane’s encounter with known moderate-to-severe turbulence, which resulted in a serious injury to a flight attendant. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Turbulence: terrain induced turbulence](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03032010): Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena · Contributed to outcome (probable cause); cases with it: [Bombardier DHC-8-402, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03032010/cases.md?model=1390042), [All aircraft, 70 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03032010/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Approach: Turbulence encounter](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/360) (defining event); cases with it: [Bombardier DHC-8-402, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/360/sequence.md?model=1390042), [All aircraft, 423 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/360/sequence.md) ## Analysis During the descent with known moderate-to-severe turbulence, the flight crew notified the cabin crew, which consisted of a forward and an aft flight attendant, to expect turbulent conditions, finish the cabin service, and be seated. As the airplane was leveling out, it encountered the first of a series of turbulent jolts of severe turbulence. The aft flight attendant had finished making a public announcement and was buckling herself into a jumpseat when the first jolt of severe turbulence hit. She was knocked out of the jumpseat onto the floor. The airplane encountered a second jolt of severe turbulence before she was able to get into her seat, and she was thrown to the ceiling and then back down to the floor, which resulted in a serious injury. The forward flight attendant had been checking on a passenger when the turbulence occurred and was thrown to the ceiling and hit the overhead bin. The passenger she was checking on flew out of his seat because he had not fastened his seatbelt, and he landed on the armrest of another seat. ## Factual narrative On September 29, 2013, at 0922 Pacific daylight time, a Bombardier DHC-8-402, N449QX, encountered moderate to severe turbulence while on descent for landing to Reno/Tahoe International Airport, Reno, Nevada. The airplane was not damaged. The airline transport pilot, commercial pilot, a cabin attendant and 55 passengers were not injured. One flight attendant was seriously injured, and two passengers received minor injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by Horizon Air as flight 2441 under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a scheduled commercial flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Seattle, Washington at 0747. The flight crew reported that they were aware of strong winds from the west as they were approaching Reno. Air traffic control started the flight's descent earlier than the crew expected; the aircraft was at 25,000 feet. The captain made an announcement to the cabin crew that they needed to be seated as they had already started their descent and that the likelihood of encountering turbulence during the descent was high. This call occurred when the flight was at approximately 22,000 feet. The first officer, non-flying pilot, was communicating with air traffic control who was advising of moderate turbulence in the area below 12,000 feet. The first officer was doing the approach checklist and made a mental note to chime the cabin crew at 14,000 feet for landing. As the flight passed below 12,000 feet the flight had not encountered much turbulence. Then around 10,000 feet as the flight was leveling out, they encountered a series of escalating turbulent jolts, each one lasting a second or two with the strongest categorized as severe. The severe turbulence disconnected the autopilot and the captain took control of the aircraft. The flight crew then called back to the cabin crew to make sure everyone was ok. At this time the flight crew was informed that one flight attendant and 2 passengers needed medical attention. After the severe encounter, the flight continued to encounter occasional moderate turbulence for the remainder of the flight. The cabin crew consisted of a forward flight attendant A, and aft flight attendant B, who reported that they had finished up with cabin service and were cleaning up the cabin in preparation for descent when they received the landing chime about 15,000 feet. Flight attendant A was picking up the last of the service items and went to check on the passenger in seat 11B who had already been told twice to buckle his seat belt. She was at row 9 or 10 when the severe turbulence hit. She tried to get to an open seat, but was thrown to the ceiling and hit the overhead bin. The passenger in 11B flew out of his seat and landed on the armrest of 11D which was occupied by a female passenger. Flight attendant A made sure the passenger in 11B got back in his seat then made her wayto her jump seat. Flight attendant B reported that she was in the aft galley and was making the final approach public announcement. As she was getting herself seated and buckling herself into the jump seat, the first of the hard turbulence hit. The turbulence knocked her out of the jump seat onto the floor. At this time the second severe turbulence hit before she was able to get back into her seat. She was thrown up to the ceiling then back down to the floor. A passenger removed himself from his seat and assisted flight attendant B, who was seriously injured, to her seat before he reseated himself. A National Transportation Safety Board specialist reviewed the weather conditions for the time of the accident. The conditions indicated a mountain wave event at 10,000 feet mean sea level and for several layers above that. Satellite imagery identified "wavy" clouds; an indication of mountain wave activity and the upper air sounding identified an inversion at 10,000 feet. SIGMET Yankee series was in effect at the time and was issued for severe turbulence the entire day. See docket for additional weather information. The surface weather report from Reno at 0855 reported the wind from 210 degrees at 19 knots, gusting to 24 knots with few clouds at 8,000 feet, scattered clouds at 10,000 feet and broken clouds at 15,000 feet. An Airmet for turbulence throughout the state of Nevada indicated turbulence, strong winds and low level wind shear that was valid through 0900. Moderate turbulence was indicated between 18,000 feet and 41,000 feet continuing beyond 0900 through 1500. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N449QX](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N449QX-2021-11-19), registration cancelled 2021-11-19, S/N 4410, built 2012 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: BOMBARDIER DHC-8-402 - Registry model: [Bombardier DHC-8-402](https://openairdocs.org/model/bombardier-dhc-8-402) (registry code 1390042) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A](https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-canada-pw150a) (registry code 52167, turbo-prop) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 4410 - Year built: 2012 - Airframe hours: 3521 - Engines: P&W PW150A turbo prop; P&W PW150A turbo prop - Damage: No damage - Flight: Part 121 - Operator: Horizon Air Industries Inc - Registered owner: Horizon Air Industries Inc - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Transport - Last inspection: Continuous airworthiness, September 23, 2013 - Departed: SEA, Seattle, WA - Destination: RNO, Reno, NV - Flight plan: IFR - Equipment: Stall warning system, Data recorder, Auto-pilot, Angle of attack indicator ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 39; injuries: none; commercial, flight instructor, airline transport; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; last flight review May 7, 2013; seat: left; restraint: 3-point; flight hours: 8,942 total, 7,793 in this make and model, 3,940 as pilot in command, 159 in the last 90 days, 61 in the last 30 days, 4 in the last 24 hours - Co-pilot; age 25; injuries: none; flight instructor, commercial, airline transport; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, without waivers/limitations; last flight review September 19, 2013; seat: right; restraint: 3-point; flight hours: 1,763 total, 20 in this make and model, 1,526 as pilot in command, 52 in the last 90 days, 20 in the last 30 days, 5 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 210° at 15 knots, gusting 24 - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 15,000 ft broken - Temperature: 63 °F, dew point 34 °F - Altimeter: 30.04 inHg - Turbulence: Severe - Observed at: RNO, 30 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (2) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20130929021369A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20130929021369A), Sep 29, 2013: Bombardier Inc DHC-8-402, Reno, NV, No damage. On September 29, 2013, aircraft N449QX, flight 2441, encountered severe turbulence while descending to land at Reno Nevada. The flight crew was aware that… - [Accident 20130929022719A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20130929022719A), Sep 29, 2013: Bombardier Inc DHC-8-402, Reno, NV, No damage. On September 29 at approximately 09:23 local time horizon air N449QX experienced severe turbulence during descent to Reno for landing. Two passengers and a… ## Other investigations on N449QX (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB WPR18FA220](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/WPR18FA220), Aug 11, 2018: De Havilland DHC8 (N449QX), Steilacoom, WA, destroyed, 1 fatal. Probable cause: The NTSB did not determine the probable cause of this event and does not plan to issue an investigative report or open a public docket. The investigation of this event is being conducted under the… ## Docket (8 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 22, 2014, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=88165. 1.6 MB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 690 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40402938&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF - Crew Statements (item 2, .PDF, 338 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40402939&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Crew%20Statements-Redacted.PDF - Cheryl Wright Statement (item 3, .PDF, 44 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40406748&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Cheryl%20Wright%20Statement-Master.PDF - Record of Email - Weather (item 4, .PDF, 86 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40412632&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Record%20of%20Email%20-%20Weather-Master.PDF - Satellite Imagery 1 (item 5, .PDF, 86 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40412633&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Satellite%20Imagery%201-Master.PDF - Satellite Imagery 2 (item 6, .PDF, 85 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40412634&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Satellite%20Imagery%202-Master.PDF - Upper Air Sounding RNO (item 7, .PDF, 191 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40412635&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Upper%20Air%20Sounding%20RNO-Master.PDF - RNO Surface Weather (item 8, .PDF, 43 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40412636&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=RNO%20Surface%20Weather-Master.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.