BOEING 777-223 near Pacific Ocean — 2011-04-11

Probable cause

An inadvertent encounter with convective-induced turbulence upon entering cumulonimbus clouds.

NTSB narrative

As the airplane was climbing, the flight crew observed a small weather buildup in front of them. They requested a deviation around the weather, but the air traffic controller requested that they stand by. After entering the weather, they received clearance to turn; however, about 24,000 feet, the airplane encountered about 11 seconds of moderate, and then severe, turbulence. During the encounter, two flight attendants received broken ankles while conducting work in the aft cabin area. The digital flight data recorder revealed that during the encounter vertical acceleration forces went from 2.2G to 0.6913G within 1 second, to a minimum of 0.496G about 5 seconds after the 2.2G maximum. A weather study conducted by a National Transportation Safety Board meteorologist revealed a frontal wave over the Japanese coast with a warm front extending eastward in the vicinity of the turbulence encounter. A gale force wind was expected. The region of the turbulence encounter also contained low to mid-level clouds with cloud tops near 14,000 feet; cumulonimbus cloud development, with tops up to 26,000 feet, was slightly upstream from the turbulence encounter. Review of the weather package given to the flight crew found no forecasts for turbulence and no Significant Meteorological Information advisories (SIGMETS) were in effect for the route of flight. At the time of the occurrence, there were no reports of turbulence from pilots ahead of the accident flight and the flight crew saw no indication of turbulence on their weather radar.

Analysis

Primary failure mode

Environmental

First missed decision gate

Flight crew could have delayed climb until weather was clearer.

NTSB coding

• Turbulence encounter · Enroute-climb to cruise

Evidence available

• FDR / data
• 6 docket documents

Docket documents6

• Flight Data Recorder 10 - Attachment 1 - Comma Separated Data (CSV) Filefdr
• Flight Data Recorder 10 - Factual Report of FDR Specialistfdr
• Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1form
• Flight Crew and Flight Attendant Statement - from American Airlinesinterview
• Meteorology 5 - Weather Studyother
• Weather Reports - Flight Crew Weather Packagereport

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