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Cases › DCA12CA062 › The analyst

AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A319-132US AIRWAYS INC

What the docket says, assembled. No language model is involved, so nothing on this page can be invented — every line traces to a recorder, a report page or the Board's own record.

10
timed facts
8
precedents
9
passages to ask

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passages, not paraphrases
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Every answer is a passage of the docket with the page it came from, or the words “not in the docket”. Nothing is summarised or reasoned for you — read the source.

One timeline

10 timed factsthe recorder events from the FDR report, with the transcript's warnings, callouts, the words nearest each event and the final seconds — on one clock, as printed in each report
  1. about 00:07 MDTFDRlandingp.3
    Aircraft landed at Denver
  2. about 22:50 MDTFDRclimbp.3
    Flight departed; climbed to flight level 390 by 22:15 (as stated); right sidestick inputs from the start of flight until about 22:54 when autopilot 2 was engaged, with no left stick inputs before then
  3. about 23:45 MDTFDRdescentp.3
    Descent began; autopilot 2 remained engaged in various modes until the upset
  4. 23:49:16 MDTFDRdescentp.3
    Descending through about 30,500 ft pressure altitude, airspeed began increasing from 297 knots, reaching a maximum of 318 knots at about 23:49:23
  5. 23:49:23 MDTFDRupsetp.3
    Autopilot 2 last sampled engaged; not sampled engaged again until about 23:51:35
  6. 23:49:23-23:49:31 MDTFDRupsetp.3
    Vertical acceleration ranged from -0.56 g to 2.61 g and pitch from -2.8 to 14.1 degrees; the aircraft began to climb and airspeed decreased
  7. 23:49:23-23:49:38 MDTFDRupsetp.3
    Angle of attack ranged from about -3.5 to 18.9 degrees
  8. 23:49:24 MDTFDRupsetp.3
    Left stick recorded lateral and longitudinal inputs, joined about half a second later by right stick inputs; dual stick inputs continued for about 8 seconds; master warning recorded for about 3 seconds
  9. about 23:49:30 MDTFDRupsetp.3
    Pitch law switched from normal to alternate, reverting to normal at about 23:50:19; autothrottles remained engaged throughout
  10. about 23:51 MDTFDRdescentp.3
    Autopilot 2 re-engaged
Flight Data Recorder 10 - Specialist's Factual Report · 10 events extracted by claude-fable-5-1 (in-session)
How the Board coded the sequence
  1. Enroute-descent: Turbulence encounter

Precedents

8 closest casesranked by what happened, in the Board's words, and by the findings and occurrences it coded
  • DCA19CA2062019-08-27no fatalitiesmatch 105
    Airbus A320 · FRONTIER AIRLINES INC
    Denver, CO
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Turbulence encounter
  • DCA17CA0422016-12-14no fatalitiesmatch 101
    BOEING 737 824 · United Airlines
    Denver, CO
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Turbulence encounter
  • DCA19CA0102018-10-12no fatalitiesmatch 98
    Airbus A319 · Frontier Airlines
    Denver, CO
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Turbulence encounter
  • DCA25LA3412025-09-30no fatalitiesmatch 97
    AIRBUS A321 · Spirit Airlines LLC
    Las Vegas, NV
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Turbulence encounter
  • DCA20CA0582020-01-10no fatalitiesmatch 97
    Airbus A320 · United Airlines Inc
    New Orleans, LA
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Turbulence encounter
  • DCA12CA1492012-09-18no fatalitiesmatch 96
    AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A330-323 · US AIRWAYS INC
    Sophia, NC
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Turbulence encounter
  • DCA25LA2392025-06-22no fatalitiesmatch 96
    AIRBUS A320 · Spirit Airlines
    Nashville, TN
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Turbulence encounter
  • DCA14LA0602014-02-17no fatalitiesmatch 96
    BOEING 737 · Continental Airlines
    Kaycee, WY
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Turbulence encounter

What the record says

a pattern, not a findingacross the 8 closest cases · 8 carry coded findings · 8 have a probable cause
Findings the Board cited in those cases
Occurrences it coded
  • 8 of 8Turbulence encounter
Set against the Board’s own findings for this case
Cited here, and common in the precedents
  • Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
Cited here, not seen in the precedents
  • —
Common in the precedents, not cited here
  • —

A teaching device, not a verdict: what the record would have looked at, next to what the Board found.

In the Board’s words — the closest cases
  • DCA19CA2062019-08-27 · Airbus A320 · FRONTIER AIRLINES INC
    an encounter with mountain wave turbulence.
  • DCA17CA0422016-12-14 · BOEING 737 824 · United Airlines
    An inadvertent encounter with mountain wave turbulence.
  • DCA19CA0102018-10-12 · Airbus A319 · Frontier Airlines
    inadvertent encounter with clear air turbulence resulting in a flight attendant receiving serious injuries.
  • DCA25LA3412025-09-30 · AIRBUS A321 · Spirit Airlines LLC
    The airplane’s encounter with turbulence during descent resulting in a serious injury to a flight attendant who was standing at the time of the encounter.
  • DCA20CA0582020-01-10 · Airbus A320 · United Airlines Inc
    an encounter with convectively induced turbulence while overflying an area of known convective activity.

This is the pattern in the NTSB’s own record across similar accidents — which findings it cited, what it coded, what it recommended. It is drawn from the record, not written about this case, and it never assigns blame: investigations exist to prevent the next accident (ICAO Annex 13).