Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / ERA11LA266

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA11LA266

2011-04-25 New York, New York, United States Airport · JFK Serious 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N807NW

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

AIRBUS A330-323

Year of manufacture

2004 · 7 years old at event

TCDS

A46NM · AIRBUS SAS

Engine

P&W PW4000 SER

Seats / Engines

379 seats · 2 engines

Last airworthiness date

20040707

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AAFD1F

Registrant of record

DELTA AIR LINES INC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The flight attendant's inadvertent fall, which resulted in a serious injury.

Factual narrative

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On April 25, 2011, about 1625 eastern daylight time, an Airbus 330-323, N807NW, had a flight attendant injured during pushback at the John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK), New York, New York. The airplane had 11 crewmembers and 265 passengers; 1 flight attendant sustained serious injuries. The airplane was registered to, and operated by, Delta Airlines under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121 for the international scheduled air carrier flight. The flight was destined for Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport (LGAV), Spata, Greece. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed. According to the captain of the flight, the pushback was uneventful and "very smooth" and that sentiment was shared by the other crew members. According to the injured flight attendant, she was had placed her right foot too close to her left foot, she stepped on her right foot and lost her balance. She attempted to stabilize herself; however, she fell and broke her left femur.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and operator records, the captain, age 58, had 17,641 total hours of flight experience and 445 total hours of flight experience as pilot-in-command of the accident aircraft make and model. He held an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate and a first class medical certificate that was issued January 19, 2011. His most recent CFR Part 121 checkride was conducted April 6, 2011. The First Officer, age 50, had 12,748 total hours of flight experience and 1,134 hours in the accident airplane make and model. He held an ATP certificate and a first class medical certificate that was issued December 10, 2010. His most recent CFR Part 121 checkride was conducted July 25, 2010.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

According to FAA and operator records, the airplane was issued an airworthiness certificate on July 7, 2004. The airplane's most recent continuous airworthiness inspection was dated on April 19, 2011. At the time of the inspection, the reported aircraft total time was 31,618 hours of time in service. The airplane was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney PW4168A turbofan engines. According to the operator, there was no mechanical malfunction or abnormalities with the airplane.

METEROLOGICAL INFORMATION

The 1651 recorded weather observation at JFK, included wind from 150 degrees at 6 knots, visibility 9 miles, few clouds at 1,200 feet above ground level (agl), scattered clouds at 13,000 and 25,000 feet agl, temperature 17 degrees C, dew point 14 degrees C; barometric altimeter 30.01 inches of mercury. The airplane was being pushed back from the gate when a flight attendant fell after she stepped on her own foot. She lost her balance and fractured her left femur. According to the injured flight attendant and other crewmembers, the push back was smooth. There were no mechanical problems with the airplane at the time of the accident that would have caused the flight attendant to fall. 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 Personnel issues-Physical-Impairment/incapacitation-Illness/injury-Cabin crew - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_ERA11LA266.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.