NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA11CA060
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
Inadvertant encounter with convective turbulence while in cruise. Contributing to the severity of the accident was the unrestrained status of the passenger, contrary to the lighted seat belt sign.
Factual narrative
On May 23, 2011 at about 1520 eastern daylight time, a Boeing 757-223, N623DL, operated by Delta Airlines as flight 2001, encountered turbulence while in cruise flight from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Boston, Massachusetts to Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport(ATL), Atlanta, Georgia. The flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight. One passenger was seriously injured and one of the 4 flight attendants experienced a minor injury. None of the 2 flight crew, other 3 flight attendants, or other 180 passengers was injured. The airplane was not damaged, and continued the flight to Atlanta. The flight crew reported that while in cruise flight at FL340, approximately 200 miles northeast of the destination, they were in an area of forecast convective weather and were maneuvering between two cells when they inadvertantly entered the edge of a cumulus buildup at the time of the turbulence. The seat belt sign was illuminated at this time, but the passenger was out of her seat and fell, resulting in a broken ankle. On May 23, 2011 at about 1520 eastern daylight time, a Boeing 757-223, N623DL, operated by Delta Airlines as flight 2001, encountered turbulence while in cruise flight from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Boston, Massachusetts to Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport(ATL), Atlanta, Georgia. The flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight. One passenger was seriously injured and one of the 4 flight attendants experienced a minor injury. None of the 2 flight crew, other 3 flight attendants, or other 180 passengers was injured. The airplane was not damaged, and continued the flight to Atlanta. The flight crew reported that while in cruise flight at FL340, approximately 200 miles northeast of the destination, they were in an area of forecast convective weather and were maneuvering between two cells when they inadvertantly entered the edge of a cumulus buildup at the time of the turbulence. The seat belt sign was illuminated at this time, but the passenger was out of her seat and fell, resulting in a broken ankle. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Turbulence-Convective turbulence-Effect on personnel - C
- F Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Incorrect action selection-Passenger - F
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2011_DCA11CA060.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 1993 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Cost Analysis: Re-Engining a Boeing 727-200 (Advanced) Versus Buying a New Boeing 757-200
The Boeing 727-200 and 757-200 are both narrowbody aircraft designed for short- to medium-range flights carrying 164 to 214 passengers.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Convectively Induced Turbulence Encountered During NASA's Fall-2000 Flight Experiments
Aircraft encounters with atmospheric turbulence are a leading cause of in-flight injuries aboard commercial airliners and cost the airlines millions of dollars each year.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
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