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NYC87FA264

1987-09-28 · BERMUDA, Atlantic Ocean, Bermuda · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

N317EA has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (BRIDGER BLAIN CCX-1865), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

ENCOUNTER WITH UNDETECTABLE CLEAR AIR TURBULENCE.

Factual narrative

THE AIRCRAFT WAS CRUISING AT FL310 EN ROUTE BETWEEN PUERTO RICO AND NEW YORK WHEN IT ENCOUNTERED CLEAR AIR TURBULENCE. SEVERAL PASSENGERS AND FLIGHT ATTENDANTS WERE THROWN ABOUT THE CABIN OF THE AIRCRAFT. ONE FLIGHT ATTENDANT RECEIVED A BROKEN WRIST. THE FLIGHT DIVERTED TO BERMUDA WHERE THE INJURED PASSENGERS WERE TREATED AND RELEASED. THE FLIGHT CREW SAID THEY WERE OPERATING IN CIRRO-STRATUS CLOUDS AT THE TIME OF THE OCCURRENCE AND NO ECHOES WERE BEING SHOWN ON THE AIRBORNE RADAR. THE SEATBELT SIGN WAS ILLUMINATED AT THE TIME OF THE OCCURRENCE AND THE CAPTAIN SAID IN AN INTERVIEW THAT HIS NORMAL PROCEDURE WAS TO KEEP THE SIGN ON AT ALL TIMES. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1987_NYC87FA264.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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