NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA16CA041
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
an encounter with turbulence resulting in a serious injury to a flight attendant.
Factual narrative
According to crew statements, the flight crew briefed the flight attendants (FA) that turbulence was forecast for the flight and that they would keep them updated throughout. During the first portion of the flight, the flight encountered light turbulence and occasional moderate turbulence several times and the flight crew made public address (PA) announcements each time. Later, the flight encountered unexpected turbulence and the flight crew immediately turned on the fasten seatbelt sign and made a PA announcement. During that time, a FA was stowing a beverage cart in the aft galley, and the turbulence caused the cart to bump the FAs hand. The FA continued to perform her duties and the flight landed uneventfully. The next day, the FAs hand was painful and swollen and she was diagnosed with a broken wrist. According to crew statements, the flight crew briefed the flight attendants (FA) that turbulence was forecast for the flight and that they would keep them updated throughout. During the first portion of the flight, the flight encountered light turbulence and occasional moderate turbulence several times and the flight crew made public address (PA) announcements each time. Later, the flight encountered unexpected turbulence and the flight crew immediately turned on the fasten seatbelt sign and made a PA announcement. During that time, a FA was stowing a beverage cart in the aft galley, and the turbulence caused the cart to bump the FAs hand. The FA continued to perform her duties and the flight landed uneventfully. The next day, the FAs hand was painful and swollen and she was diagnosed with a broken wrist. 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
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2016_DCA16CA041.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.
- 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…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗