What happened
NTSB summary, verbatimThe airplane was in cruise flight at flight level 360, over the Atlantic Ocean, about 75 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it encountered turbulence. One flight attendant sustained a serious injury, and one flight attendant and one passenger sustained minor injuries. The flight continued to its destination and landed without further incident. Review of National Weather Service Weather Surveillance Radar revealed echoes along the airway where the turbulence event occurred; which implied that the turbulent event was likely associated with a Convective Induced Turbulence (CIT) encounter related to the airflow associated with cumulonimbus activity, and possibly above and downwind of the cumulonimbus cloud tops.
Photographs
1the aircraft, and what the investigators foundProbable cause
the Board's determinationThe airplane's inadvertent encounter which clear air turbulence during cruise flight.
Sequence of events
1 timed eventsfrom the FDR factual report · claude-sonnet-5- 0230 ESTcruise flight over the Atlantic Ocean, about 75 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Ricop.1Aircraft encountered turbulence while in cruise flight
NTSB analysis
from the final reportThe airplane was in cruise flight at flight level 360, over the Atlantic Ocean, about 75 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico, when it encountered turbulence. One flight attendant sustained a serious injury, and one flight attendant and one passenger sustained minor injuries. The flight continued to its destination and landed without further incident. Review of National Weather Service Weather Surveillance Radar revealed echoes along the airway where the turbulence event occurred; which implied that the turbulent event was likely associated with a Convective Induced Turbulence (CIT) encounter related to the airflow associated with cumulonimbus activity, and possibly above and downwind of the cumulonimbus cloud tops.