Action Needed Now to Prevent Future Injuries and Accidents
By Jana Price, PhD, NTSB National Resource Specialist
In 2021, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) published a safety research report about preventing turbulence-related injuries. We found that turbulence was involved in more than a third (38%) of Part 121 air carrier accidents between 2009 and 2018. The NTSB report included 24 recommendations aimed at reducing the incidence of turbulence accidents and associated injuries.
The good news for travelers is that wearing a seat belt while flying virtually eliminates the risk of being injured if an airplane experiences turbulence. Our research found that passengers accounted for just 21% of those who were seriously injured due to turbulence, and nearly all of those passengers were unbelted when the turbulence occurred.
When turbulence occurs, it’s usually flight attendants who suffer. Flight attendants accounted for 79% of all seriously injured occupants in the turbulence-related accidents we studied. These injuries often occur as flight attendants prepare the cabin for landing; that is, when the seat belt sign is typically illuminated for passengers. In our 2021 report, the NTSB concluded that having flight attendants seated with their seat belts fastened earlier in the descent phase of flight would reduce the rate of flight attendant injuries due to turbulence (and, consequently, the rate of turbulence-related accidents overall). Our report recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) revise the turbulence guidance it provides to airlines, including revisions concerning the phases of flight and associated altitudes at which flight attendants should be secured in their seats. However, 2 years later, the FAA has not yet acted on this recommendation.
The NTSB is not the first to recommend that flight attendants be seated and buckled in altitudes where turbulence risk is higher. More than 20 years ago, the Commercial Aviation Safety Team, a government-industry working group, recommended a policy to remain seated from takeoff to cruise and from 20,000 feet until landing. However, such a policy was never widely adopted, and serious injuries from turbulence under 20,000 feet have continued to occur. Since the NTSB turbulence safety research report was published in August 2021, as shown in the table, there have been 30 air carrier accidents involving turbulence. Reports are completed and publicly available for 11 of those accidents, and more than half of them involve flight attendants who were seriously injured when the airplane experienced turbulence at or below 20,000 feet. The following are examples of these accidents.
- On August 21, 2021, as American Airlines flight 2760 descended to land in Chicago, Illinois, the aircraft encountered turbulence at 7,000 feet. A flight attendant who had been walking through the aisle to prepare for landing fell to her knees because of the turbulence and fractured her kneecap.
- On August 19, 2022, as United Airlines flight 1400 descended to land in Columbus, Ohio, the aircraft encountered turbulence at 10,000 feet. A flight attendant in the rear of the aircraft fell and fractured her ankle.
- On August 29, 2022, as Delta Air Lines flight 2968 descended to land in Detroit, Michigan, at approximately 20,000 feet, the flight began to experience turbulence. A flight attendant was thrown into a galley counter, fracturing her rib.
- On September 1, 2022, as United Airlines flight 1675 descended to land in Denver, Colorado, below 13,000 feet, the aircraft encountered turbulence as the flight attendants were taking their seats. A flight attendant placed her hand on the jump seat to lower it when severe turbulence occurred, causing her to fracture her hand.
- On September 4, 2022, as Delta Air Lines flight 673 descended to land in New York City, at 13,000 feet, the aircraft encountered turbulence, which caused a flight attendant to fall and subsequently break her foot.
- On November 10, 2022, as American Airlines flight 2548 descended to land in Miami, Florida, at 18,000 feet, the aircraft encountered unexpected turbulence. As a result, a flight attendant in the aft galley was thrown to the floor and fractured her spine.
- On February 16, 2023, as Spirit Airlines flight 641 descended to land in New Orleans, Louisiana, at 7,000 feet, the aircraft encountered turbulence. Three flight attendants fell to the floor. One flight attendant fractured her ankle. The other two flight attendants received medical treatment for minor injuries.
In each of these cases, the seat belt sign was illuminated, and the passengers were belted. In some cases, the flight crew knew turbulence was possible during the descent and communicated this to one or more flight attendants, but the flight attendants were not seated in time. In other cases, the turbulence was unexpected. However, in every case described here, if there had been a policy for flight attendants to be seated and belted at 20,000 feet, these serious injuries would likely have been prevented.
Flight attendants spend their careers working to keep us safe. Our 2021 safety research report concluded that asking flight attendants to be seated earlier during the descent phase of flight could reduce serious injuries and accidents related to turbulence. The FAA has not made updating its guidance in this area a priority, but the agency must do so to avoid serious injuries that are entirely preventable.
