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Cases › DCA16CA181 › The analyst

BOEING 737 724United Airlines

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.

7
timed facts
8
precedents
10
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

7 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. 21:50:00 CDTFDRcruisep.2
    Aircraft position at start of turbulence encounter overlay, at pressure altitude of 26,987 ft
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  2. 21:56:45 CDTFDRcruise/turbulence encounterp.3
    While leveled at approximately 27,000 ft with autopilot command B not selected, vertical acceleration variations began, ranging between 1.58 g's and -0.52 g's before settling to about 1 g; roll angle increased to 11.6 degrees right wing down then rapidly reversed to 2.81 degrees left wing down before returning to level
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  3. 21:56:55 CDTFDRcruise/turbulence encounterp.3
    End of vertical acceleration variations noted (10 seconds after onset)
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  4. 21:57:14 CDTFDRdescentp.3
    Aircraft began its descent from 27,000 ft, approximately 29 seconds after the start of the vertical acceleration variations
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  5. 21:58:55 CDTFDRdescent/level-offp.3
    Aircraft leveled at 24,000 ft
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  6. 22:02:10 CDTFDRcruisep.2
    Aircraft position at end of turbulence encounter overlay, at pressure altitude of 24,000 ft
    see the traces at this moment ↗
  7. 22:18:06 CDTFDRlandingp.3
    Aircraft landed, approximately 19 minutes after leveling at 24,000 ft
    see the traces at this moment ↗
FLIGHT DATA RECORDER - SPECIALISTA��S FACTUAL REPORT · 7 events extracted by claude-sonnet-5
How the Board coded the sequence
  1. Enroute-cruise: Clear air turbulence encounter

Precedents

8 closest casesranked by what happened, in the Board's words, and by the findings and occurrences it coded
  • DCA10CA0322010-02-19no fatalitiesmatch 102
    BOEING 747 · UNITED AIR LINES INC
    Anchorage, AK
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Clear air turbulence encounter
  • DCA10FA0762010-07-15no fatalitiesmatch 95
    BOEING 767 · DELTA AIRLINES INC
    Pacific Ocean, PO
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Clear air turbulence encounter
  • DCA08FA0642008-05-27no fatalitiesmatch 93
    EMBRAER 140 · American Airlines
    Dallas, TX
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Clear air turbulence encounter
  • CEN10LA1892010-04-03no fatalitiesmatch 90
    EMBRAER ERJ 170-100 SE · Republic Airlines
    Runnells, IA
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
    Clear air turbulence encounter
  • DCA25LA2382025-06-16no fatalitiesmatch 88
    BOEING 737-924ER · UNITED AIRLINES INC
    Fort Myers, FL
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
  • DCA16CA2202016-08-31no fatalitiesmatch 88
    BOEING 767 322 · United Airlines
    International Waters, A1
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
  • DCA26LA1672026-03-29no fatalitiesmatch 87
    BOEING 787-9 · UNITED AIRLINES INC
    Pacific Ocean, PO
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence
  • DCA19CA0752019-02-05no fatalitiesmatch 86
    Boeing 737 · American Airlines
    Bluefields, NI
    • ●Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Turbulence

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
  • 4 of 8Clear air turbulence encounter
  • 4 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
  • DCA10CA0322010-02-19 · BOEING 747 · UNITED AIR LINES INC
    an inadvertent encounter with clear air turbulence.
  • DCA10FA0762010-07-15 · BOEING 767 · DELTA AIRLINES INC
    an inadvertent encounter with clear air turbulence.
  • DCA08FA0642008-05-27 · EMBRAER 140 · American Airlines
    The flight's inadvertent encounter with turbulence.
  • CEN10LA1892010-04-03 · EMBRAER ERJ 170-100 SE · Republic Airlines
    A clear air turbulence encounter during cruise flight, during which an unrestrained cabin flight attendant sustained a hip fracture.
  • DCA25LA2382025-06-16 · BOEING 737-924ER · UNITED AIRLINES INC
    The airplane’s inadvertent encounter with convective turbulence during descent, which resulted in serious injuries to two flight attendants.

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).