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MIA90LA155

1990-07-18 · FORT MYERS, Florida, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

UNFORECASTED ENCOUNTER WITH WEATHER. THE AIRPLANE ENCOUNTERED SEVERE TURBLENCE DURING ENROUTE DESCENT, RESULTING IN ONE FLIGHT ATTENDANT SUSTAINING SERIOUS INJURY, AND ONE PASSENGER SUSTAINING MINOR INJURY.

Factual narrative

AN AMERICAN AIRLINES, BOEING 727-223, WAS IFR AT FLIGHT LEVEL 30,200. THE AIRPLANE WAS 15 NAUTICAL MILES, NORTHWEST OF FORT MYERS, FLORIDA, IN A DESCENT TO MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, MIAMI, FLORIDA, WHEN IT EXPERIENCED AN UNFORECASTED ENCOUNTER WITH WEATHER (SEVER TURBLENCE). THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT DAMAGED. ONE FLIGHT ATTENDANT SUSTAINED SERIOUS INJURY, AND ONE PASSENGER SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES. THE AIRPLANE ARRIVED AT DESTINATION AIRPORT WITHOUT FIRTHER INCIDENT. ANALYSIS OF THE FLIGHT DATA RECORDER REVEALED THE AIRPLANE WAS SUBJECTED TO A SERIES OF OSCILLATING VERTICAL ('G') LOADS FOR A PERIOD OF 50 SECONDS. THE MAXIMUM G LOAD WAS 1.94, AND THE MINIMUM WAS -0.55. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_MIA90LA155.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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