FlarePathAir-accident investigation intelligence

Investigation brief · generated 2026-10-09 · source: NTSB public docket and accident database

EMBRAER ERJ 190 100 IGW — Orlando, FL, USA, 2017-04-14

NTSB number

DCA17CA101

Operator

JetBlue Airways

Registration

N373JB

Highest injury

Serious injury

Regulation

Part 121

Damage

—

Cohort

Part 121 airline

Recorder data

Tier 1 — decoded recorder tables

Every sentence below is taken directly from NTSB records — the accident database, the docket's recorder reports and the Board's findings — with its source noted. Nothing is paraphrased or inferred.

NTSB summary

On April 14, 2017, about 1600 eastern standard time, JetBlue Airlines flight 240, an Embraer E-190, N373JB, encountered turbulence during approach to land at Orlando International Airport (KMCO), Orlando, Florida. One flight attendant sustained serious injuries. The airplane was not damaged. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a regularly scheduled international passenger flight from Lynden Pindling International Airport, Nassau Bahamas. The captain stated that, during the approach to land, the passenger seat belt sign was illuminated and that he could see a scattered/broken cumulous layer of clouds between about 8,000 and 10,000 feet. He expected to encounter turbulence, so he called the flight attendants and told them it was going to be bumpy during the descent and that they were to sit down. Shortly after, the airplane encountered moderate turbulence for about 4 to 7 seconds. A flight attendant then informed the flight crew that one of the aft flight attendants had fallen. After landing, the flight attendant was transported to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a broken fibula.

Verbatim, NTSB aviation accident database (narratives.narr_accf).

Probable cause

an inadvertent encounter with convective turbulence, which resulted in a serious injury to a flight attendant.

Verbatim, NTSB determination.

Flight data recorder

Embraer EMB-190, QAR · N373JB — 258,552 samples, 14 parameters, 22:19:24.0 to 24:59:00.0.

Parameter	Max	at	Min	at	Final	at
Pitch attitude deg	17.9	22:55:17.0	-4.2	23:43:09.0	-1.1	24:59:00.0
Roll attitude deg	24.8	23:40:55.0	-27.9	23:38:04.0	0.7	24:59:00.0
Vertical acceleration g	1.4	23:35:12.0	-0.2	23:35:33.0	1.0	24:59:00.0

Computed from the docket's tabular attachment; times as recorded (local or SRN as published).

Sequence of events (FDR factual report)

Time	Event	Page
23:35:33 UTC	Turbulence encounter seemed to happen while the aircraft was descending through a pressure altitude of 7,870 feet	2
23:35:33 UTC (approx., over a 2-second period)	Vertical g's varied between -0.21 to +1.38 over a 2-second period	2
23:35:33 UTC	The autopilot was engaged during the turbulence encounter and during the flight surrounding this time	2
23:35:33 UTC	Roll, pitch, and airspeed fluctuated around the time of the assumed encounter	2

Extracted by claude-sonnet-5; 4 of 4 stated events verified against the raw recorder data.

Recorder documents in the docket

Group	Title	Pages	Type
fdr	QUICK ACCESS RECORDER - SPECIALISTA��S FACTUAL REPORT	7	pdf
fdr	QUICK ACCESS RECORDER - ATTACHMENT 1 - TABULAR DATA (CSV)		csv

Docket: data.ntsb.gov/Docket/?NTSBNumber=DCA17CA101. This brief is an analytical aid assembled from public records; it is not an investigative finding.