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Atlas / NTSB / MIA99LA039

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event MIA99LA039

1998-12-01 FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, United States Serious 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

an abrupt maneuver in response to a traffic avoidance system alert, resulting in a flight attendant falling and breaking a leg.

Factual narrative

On December 1, 1998, about 1030 eastern standard time, an Aerospatiale ATR-72-212, N414WF, registered to AMR Leasing Corporation Inc., and operated by American Eagle Inc., had a flight attendant injured while maneuvering, about 30 miles southeast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and an IFR flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 121 scheduled passenger flight. The airplane was not damaged. The flightcrew of 2, 1 flight attendant, and 48 passengers reported no injuries. One flight attendant was seriously injured. The flight had departed from Nassau, Bahamas, at 0945. The flight was at 4,000 feet when Air Traffic Control gave the crew a traffic report. The crew could not locate the traffic, because at the time they were flying in instrument meteorological conditions. About 3 minutes later the crew received a TCAS (traffic collision avoidance system) alert to climb. The flight climbed from 4,000 feet and leveled off at 5,300 feet. During the climb both flight attendants fell. One flight attendant broke her leg, the other was not injured. The flight attendants were standing completing their pre-landing duties when the event occurred. The pilot radioed ATC that he needed to have an ambulance meet the flight when it landed. The flight landed without further incident, and the flight attendant was taken to a local hospital. The flight was at 4,000 feet when Air Traffic Control gave the crew a traffic report. The crew could not locate the traffic, because at the time they were flying in instrument meteorological conditions. About 3 minutes later the crew received a TCAS (traffic collision avoidance system) alert to climb. The flight climbed from 4,000 feet and leveled off at 5,300 feet. During the climb both flight attendants fell. One flight attendant broke her leg, the other was not injured. The flight attendants were standing completing their pre-landing duties when the event occurred. The pilot radioed ATC that he needed to have an ambulance meet the flight when it landed. The flight landed without further incident, and the flight attendant was taken to a local hospital. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1998_MIA99LA039.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.